The Albany Supreme Court today issued its decision in the closely-watched challenge to the regulations recently enacted by the State Education Department.
The opinion by Justice Christine Ryba held that the part of the New Regulations that penalizes parents and yeshivas if a school is determined not to be substantially equivalent was improper, noting that “the Compulsory Education Law does not authorize or contemplate the imposition of penalties or other consequences upon a nonpublic school that has been found to not provide substantially equivalent education.” The Court found that this aspect of the New Regulations is “inconsistent with the legislative goal of the Compulsory Education Law and exceeds the rule making authority conferred upon respondents.”
Justice Ryba therefore struck down the provisions of the New Regulations that provided that if a nonpublic school receives an unfavorable final determination on substantial equivalency “the nonpublic school shall no longer be deemed a school which provides compulsory education fulfilling the requirement of the Compulsory Education Law.”
The Court noted that “most importantly, there is nothing in the Compulsory Education Law that limits a child to procuring a substantially equivalent education through merely one source of instruction provided at a single location So long as the child receives a substantially equivalent education through some source or combination of sources, the Legislative purpose of compulsory education is satisfied” and that a parent can satisfy the compulsory education requirement “such as by providing supplemental home instruction in compliance with the home schooling regulations.”
The decision rejected the SAPA claims advanced by the Petitioners, and held that it is premature to rule on the constitutional claims, which can be brought after a local school district completes a substantial equivalency review.
The PEARLS advocacy group (parents for educational and religious liberty in schools) said in a statement:
“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. In striking those provisions of the regulations, the Court agreed with parents and non-public schools across New York State who opposed these regulations. The Court also preserved our ability to bring a constitutional challenge should any yeshiva be unfairly judged or burdened by the State’s application of the regulations.”
Click here to read the full ruling
Can you please put it in simple English.
Most of us can’t understand the big words.
Ty
But I believe this is the good news we were davening for?. Can someone confirm please
The Irony
Well bh bh I’m in my seventies and I’m grateful Hashem provided me with a big mishpocho bh kah shluchim or mechanchim as well as businessmen although no limudei chol
Is that same amount of public school kids can’t either so why force us to learn what they learn
Yeshivas can continue to omit english studies from curriculum without consequences from the state…. in other words kids can continue to graduate from yeshivas without basic skills needed to succeed outside the community
The majority of our kids are successful, intelligent, highly productive members of the community.
Those who aren’t wouldn’t have succeeded even had they learned English.
Are all the graduates of public school successful?
Don’t blame your laziness on the system.
My son had a hard time in Yeshiva. The yeshiva did not translate things adequately and he had a hard time getting a chavrusah. The yeshiva also did not know how to discipline students.
Hope things are different now. Although he didn’t learn to read English until 5th grade, he did well later in secular studies.
Stop blaming your failings on others
“You wrote, ‘Yeshivas can continue to omit english [sic] studies… in other words, kids can continue to graduate without basic skills…’ This implies that state intervention is what can lead to students having a better chance of graduating with basic skills. The community and its representatives who are fighting these regulations disagree with the premise that state regulators taking sides and enforcing internal community disagreements is a solution to improving Jewish education. In fact, it can be argued that the regulators and proponents of these regulations are lacking some basic education in history or the principles of democracy and… Read more »
…because it is kind of ironic
Anyone with half a brain can understand that the person who wrote this is just trolling. Their english is fine.
It just means I can’t put parents in jail for having their kids in a school which doesn’t teach secular studies.
It does not say that the government cannot regulate schools and shut them down.
Baruch Hashem
This is big news
Didan Netzach!! The judge is saying that they don’t have the authority to decide that schools need to follow one standard in order to be a school. Wow!
However it seems that they can technically force parents to prove that they are providing their children a substantially equivalent education. Which is definitely not a good thing.
That means yeshivas will have to make sure their students understand what is being taught and that the Torah subjects taught are challenging and those who need extra help receive it.
and why is it not good if parents are legally required to provide their children with a well rounded education?
The court ruled in favor of the regulations almost entirely. It struck down only one provision: That a yeshiva that doesn’t meet the substantial equivalency rules can be shut down. Instead the court offered the option to parents to continue to send their kids to yeshiva but also address the substantial equivalency rules in other ways such as after-school homeschooling or tutoring in the required secular subjects. This is better than nothing, but it’s a long way from victory.
True, but the parents now have the option of deciding what to teach rather than an atheist deciding for them.
Bh we live in a country that has checks and balances. A gross government overreach can be rained in and overhauled. And yes, the US is a malchus shel chesed.
We need the right people in office, make sure you make your vote count!
May we continue to be victorious over the ‘maskilim’ of today.
Ps if you don’t like it, you certainly are welcome to put your kids in a different school. Please refrain from imposing your secular values on others.
I went to public school all my life and received a sub-par education. Many teachers weren’t even familiar with the topics and only taught to receive a paycheque. Throughout university I was told that my degree will have transferrable skills for the workforce. Most of that wasn’t true, but in yeshiva it definitely was. In yeshiva I learnt various languages, how to analyze texts, and strengthened my debate skills. The yeshiva system is by far greater than any educational system I’ve ever been through.