By a Concerned Parent
In our lives, we are faced with moments where we must understand the need to take action. We must understand the importance of eis laasos, that now is the time to act.
Today that time is here. We are facing an imminent threat to our way of life. We are facing a challenge that we as a community must overcome.
In the past, there has been a push on the governmental level, to insert the secular way of life into our Torah-true values through our school curriculums. This push was obvious and clear and the response by the communities affected was strong and overwhelming and, baruch Hashem, stopped the overreach.
This time is different. Very quietly and quite insidiously, new regulations and guidelines are being proposed that will greatly affect the way we run our schools. Under the guise of a somewhat pareve term, “substantial equivalency,” the Local School Authority (LSA) will be given unprecedented power.
What does the proposed regulation say?
The LSA will have the authority to:
Vet our teachers and deem them qualified or unqualified to teach: (a) competent teacher means instructional staff employed by the school who demonstrate appropriate knowledge, skill, and dispositions to provide substantially equivalent instruction. A competent teacher must be certified.
Dictate our curriculum to meet substantial equivalency standards: (b)substantial equivalency for a non-public school, means an instructional program which is comparable to that offered in the public schools.
Deem a non-public school non-compliant (by their standards) and have your child go to school elsewhere: (c) The LSA (local school authority) shall provide a reasonable timeframe for parents to enroll their children in an appropriate educational setting, consistent with Education Law 3204.
Begin an investigation/audit based on a complaint from ANYONE, even a disgruntled employee or student, even those not even remotely affiliated with the school: (d) the Commissioner may direct an LSA to investigate a non-public school if the commissioner receives a complaint.
There are a host of other disturbing points in the proposed guidelines.
These are the most abhorrent.
They are real. They are clearly stated.
Do not be fooled by clever wording. Do not be swayed by seemingly “fair” standards.
How you can help:
We have until May 30th to collect a minimum of 10,000 signatures on the petition site, protectchinuch.com.
Please take 30 seconds to sign the petition and protect our Chinuch.
If you have already signed, encourage others to sign as well.
Anyone over the age of 13 can sign.
You can live anywhere in the United States.
Our Yiddishe Chinuch is being willfully challenged. The third Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek was arrested 22 times to protest government interference in the education of children. We cannot let these progressive regulations anywhere near our precious children.
This affects all of us. All Yidden. Chassidish, Litvish, Modern Orthodox, everyone. Together with other Jewish communities, we hope to collect 200,000 signatures before the deadline. We must stand together to fight the passage of this legislation.
Silence is not an option.
Visit www.ProtectChinuch.com now!
When there is pnimiyus in teaching, (not just book knowledge)there wont be any trouble from the government. Teachers have to be practicing what they preach, not just preach. Government is in the hands of G-d almighty. Hashem is seeing what we are teaching our children and we have to correct our ways. When our ways are corrected the government will stop bothering us.
These all seem like important regulations to protect children and their right to be educated.
If providing an education and qualified teachers is a threat to your way of life then you simply aren’t frum. You’re something else entirely.
Are they insisting that all Jewish children are learning chumash and rashi?
I am sorry but you are missing the point. These guidelines will leave it to the local educational bureaucrats to decide if what we are teaching is correct. It does not state that these folks will be following a certain metric or guide. It states simple that that the Jewish schools need to be providing education equivalency. Who determines that “equivalency”? That will be the State, and we cannot let the State which has a failing education system to tell us what they will deem ok.
The Rebbeim have always fought against government intervention in their attempts to secularize jewish education
teaching children in only yiddish speaking communities more english will give them opportunities as adults… Perhaps there is something incredibly kind about these regulations.
Number one there little to no schools in CH that teach in yiddish today. Our education system has definitely changed since my days, and for the better.
Having the State being the one to decide what we can and cannot teach is not the solution. The beauty about chinuch today in CH is that their are options.
These rules will not just affect the schools that do not teach secular subject, but even those that do. There is something if even schools likfe Haftor, Ramaz and others stand united against these proposed regulations.
We need to pay attention to those that spearheaded this desire for change in the first place. That is from our very own Jewish girls and boys who did not fit into the mold and were left without any means of obtaining a GED. I don’t believe that the government should dictate curriculum but rather our own hanhalos need to take care of ALL of our children. Do they not care about those that turn to drugs and feel hopeless?
Please Rabboisai, figure out a way to help those that would benefit from basic skills.
If the government provides different kinds of fundings it is logical that if you accept them , it should have the right to Propose some kind of guidelines , at least to improve teachers in their jobs
Why should schools that do not receive any funding be told what to do?
Do we not believe in America where we have freedom of choice, or does that not apply to education? As a parent we should be allowed to send out kids to the schools of our choice, and as a country with religious freedoms, then our schools should be allowed the freedom to operate and teach as they see fit.