NY Adopts New Regulations for Religious Schools

Facts

• On Tues., the New York State Board of Regents unanimously approved new guidelines that require religious and other private schools to provide secular instruction that's "substantially equivalent" to their public counterparts.
• Beginning next September, the state's school districts will be required to identify all private schools in their areas, and then visit each school by the end of the 2024-25 school year to ensure each institution meets the requirements.
• Alternatively, private schools can prove their compliance by being accredited by an approved outside organization or by showing their students' progress on state tests.
• If schools don't comply with the regulations they could lose their designation for meeting the state's compulsory education requirements, and school districts that fail to monitor the private schools in their boundaries could lose state funding, officials have said.
• Officials have reportedly been considering the regulations for years, and the vote comes after a New York Times report alleged that more than 100 schools run by the Hasidic Jewish community have received $1B in public funding, but have failed to implement basic education, such as math, science, or history.
• The NYT investigation found that when more than 1k students at the Central United Talmudical Academy in Brooklyn took a standardized test in reading and math, 100% of them failed the exam.

Sources: New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and New York Times.

Narratives

• Right narrative, as provided by Washington Examiner. These regulations are a blatant attack on religious freedoms and a slippery downhill slope toward the state gaining complete power over children and their education. Parents should be allowed to prioritize a religious education for their children without state intervention in the curriculum.
• Left narrative, as provided by New York Times. Students at many Orthodox Jewish Yeshiva schools in New York are being systematically denied a quality education. Instead of being taught fundamental subjects like math or science, these students are being educated almost entirely in prayer and religious texts. While religious freedom is important, these schools are fundamentally failing their students and creating young adults with no skills to navigate the outside world.