New York lawmakers are considering a measure that will greatly weaken their oversight of religious schools, which could be a major victory for the state’s Hasidik Jewish community.
The proposal could become part of the state budget agreement, which has attracted deep attention among education experts, including state education commissioner Betty Rosa, who said in an interview that the change belongs to the “travesty” of children attending religious schools that do not provide basic secular education.
“We will really hurt the future of these young people,” Rosa said, adding: “How I support this decision as an architect of education in the system.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a $254 billion budget deal on Monday, but acknowledged many details are still in the hash.
Behind the scenes, whether the Governor and the Legislature would agree to changes in private school oversight, which could include delays in any potential consequences for private schools that would receive huge taxpayer funding for access to basic education in English or math, and sometimes including the Flout State Education Act.
The state is also considering lowering the standards schools must meet to prove it is complying with the law.
Although potential changes in state education laws will technically apply to all private schools, they are primarily related to Hasidic schools, which largely carry religious lessons in Yiddish and Hebrew in their all-boy school (called Yeshivas).
The potential deal is the result of years of lobbying by Hasidic leaders and their political representatives.
Legislative leaders acknowledged that changes to educational standards were being considered but refused to provide any other details.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said Tuesday that the conversation on the subject was “continuous” and she was unsure what the final budget legislation would be like. A spokesman for Governor Hochul declined to comment. Convention spokesman Carl Heastie said when an overview of a deal was asked in time “on the table” earlier this week.
The work was led by Simcha Felder, who recently represented Brooklyn in the state Senate before being elected to the city council, while Simcha Eichenstein represented similar areas at the conference.
The Hasidic community has long viewed government supervision of schools as an existential threat and has become their main political issue in recent years.
This has reached a new sense of urgency in recent months, as the state Department of Education, led by Ms. Rosa, proposed the first action to enforce the law after years of deliberations and delays.
The department announced plans to close six hasidic Yeshivas, but in some cases it was not complying with state laws because schools refused to meet with state education officials to discuss improvement plans.
The move is by far the most powerful move taken by New York is to combat schools that say they are breaking the law, the worst case scenario for the Hasidic leaders.
Even among the Hasidic leaders, there was little controversy that many Jesus in the lower Hudson Valley and parts of Brooklyn did not provide enough secular education. Some religious leaders boasted that they refused to comply with the law and prohibited families from having English books at home.
Mayor Eric Adams's administration is closely aligned with the Hasidic community, who discovered in 2023 that Brooklyn Yeshivas did not comply with state law, a discovery supported by state education officials.
A 2022 New York Times survey found dozens of all-boys Yeshivas collected about $1 billion in government funds over a four-year period but failed to provide basic education, while teachers in some schools used corporal punishment.
It's obvious why skeptical Hasidic leaders of any government oversight want to undermine and delay the consequences for the schools they help.
In this particular budget season, elected officials will acknowledge that these requirements are less obvious. In Albany, there is widespread speculation that Ms. Hacker faces a potentially tough reelection battle next year, hoping to gain the favor of Hasidic officials, who can improve their chances through recognition.
The Hasidic community tends to vote as a group to influence low-key local elections, and some legislators suggest that religious leaders may endorse specific candidates if allies in their legislature agree to weaken the law.
Hasidic voters are increasingly conservative and tend to favor Republicans in election matches.
This could put Ms. Hawker on a potential Republican challenger in next year’s game, representing Mike Lawler, who strongly ally with the considerable Hasidic Community in the Hudson Valley area, even if Ms. Hawker offers a franchise in Yeshivas. A potential Democratic challenger, Bronx representative Ritchie Torres, has provided an active effort to Jewish voters.
As budget negotiations reach their final crazy phase, some members raised concerns about changes in education law, that their leadership is putting pressure on them and said they have not seen the recommendations in the form of bills.
News about the potential deal reached Michael A. Rebel, a well-known education lawyer.
“If this secret, the behind-the-scenes deal is actually accepted by the governor, we will have to challenge it publicly,” the rebels wrote in an email obtained by the Times. “We will also consider filing a constitutional lawsuit against it.”
New York's state education law is associated with private schools, which is known as a substantive equivalent and has been around for more than a century.
Until a few years ago it was an obscure, uncontroversial rule, when Hasidic Yeshivas graduates said they were denied basic education and filed complaints with the state, claiming that their education kept them from being prepared to navigate the secular world and find decent jobs.
