A legal bid to head off state intervention in forcing ultra-Orthodox private schools to meet minimum standards for teaching subjects such as reading and math has succeeded in knocking out a key enforcement tool.
While a trial court ruled Thursday the New York State Education Department can regulate basic subjects such as reading and math in nonpublic schools, it said a key enforcement measure that would have forced noncompliant yeshivas to close exceeds the agency’s authority.
The conflict was touched off when, after years of debate, the Board of Regents voted in September to pass new rules aimed at addressing longstanding allegations that scores of yeshivas were not providing an education that was at least substantially equivalent to that offered in public schools as mandated by state law.
A religious group filed a challenge to the regulations, arguing that they improperly target yeshivas and infringe on their ability to offer Jewish Studies. The ruling comes as New York City officials have three months left to complete detailed determinations and recommendations about the quality of secular instruction at local yeshivas, following an unprecedented deadline set by Education Commissioner Betty Rosa earlier this year.
Albany Supreme Court Justice Christina Ryba, in one key part of the decision, upheld the ability of the state to take action, finding the constitutional challenges related to religious and parental rights to the regulations were “without merit.”
But the court struck down pivotal language that would effectively force the shutdown of noncompliant schools that could not satisfy the state’s compulsory education law, as families would need to enroll in different programs to comply.
Those rules “force parents to completely unenroll their children from a nonpublic school that does not meet all of the criteria for substantial equivalency, thereby forcing the school to close its doors,” read the decision — a consequence that is “inconsistent” with the goal of the original state law, and “exceeds the rule-making authority” available to state education officials.
Judge Ryba found that parents should be able to supplement their children’s education at a noncompliant yeshiva or private school, so long as they can prove the student is getting a basic education through homeschool plans or other means.
Beatrice Weber, executive director of Young Advocates for Fair Education, which filed an amicus brief in support of the Education Department, and a mom of 10 children who left her Hasidic community, said she had “very mixed feelings” about the decision.
“On the one hand, we’re grateful the regulations were upheld: There is no violation of religious rights to have an education, and that’s been outlined clearly,” said Weber. “But when you take away the enforcement mechanism, you’re really pulling the rug out from under your feet on how to make this happen.”
“The schools will not have the motivation and the impetus to actually begin teaching, develop the curriculum and bring the schools up to par,” Weber added. “This has given them a way out.”
Critics of the regulations celebrated the decision that may water down their enforcement.
“We are gratified that the Court recognized that the State Education Department exceeded its authority in enacting regulations that threaten yeshivas and parents with draconian penalties,” read a statement from Parents for Educational and Religious Liberty in Schools, who brought the lawsuit.
The pro-yeshiva group also signaled that it could bring new constitutional challenges, should any ultra-Orthodox school be disproportionately impacted by how the state applies the law.
Parents for Educational and Religious Liberty in Schools also tried to toss the regulations by claiming the Education Department’s notice and comment period was a “sham” — given the roughly 350,000 public comments it received, many of which were sent in by yeshiva parents and leaders who blasted the proposal.
“Respondents were not required to revise the proposed regulations simply because members of the public opposed them,” read the decision.
It was not immediately clear if Thursday’s decision would be appealed.
“We have an obligation under the law to ensure all students receive an education that enables them to fulfill their potential and teaches them the skills and knowledge needed to contribute to society and participate in civic life,” said JP O’Hare, a spokesperson for the state Education Department. “We remain committed to ensuring students who attend school in settings consistent with their religious and cultural beliefs and values receive the education to which they are legally entitled.”
