NYS Board of Regents Set to Vote on Regulations of Private Schools

By Reuvain Borchardt

NEW YORK — The New York State Board of Regents will vote next week on regulations of private schools, which would for the first time give government the power to accept or reject a school’s secular-studies curriculum.

The regulations would require that yeshivas either be registered as having a Regents program, accredited by an approved accrediting body, or undergo a review by the local school authority.

“We are at a milestone in terms of what has been a lengthy process, working with stakeholders and working with local school authorities to come up with a framework that will enable non-public schools to demonstrate that they are providing substantially equivalent instruction as is required by New York State law,” Jim Baldwin, the state’s Senior Deputy Education Commissioner, said on a Zoom call Friday with Orthodox media outlets to discuss the new regulations.

A draft of proposed regulations was initially released in March, triggering a 60-day public comment period. More than 350,000 comments were submitted during this period, the “vast majority” of which were form comments which “expressed philosophical opposition to state regulation of non-public schools,” according to Education officials on the Zoom call. 

Despite these comments — mostly form letters collected by pro-yeshiva organizations including Agudath Israel, PEARLS, Torah Umesorah, Satmar and Chabad — the final regulations released Friday and to be voted on next week will be essentially identical to those proposed in March.

Monday’s vote will be the latest step in a years-long battle over secular-studies education in private schools, triggered when a group of former yeshiva students complained they had received a minimal secular education.

Since the late 19th Century, state law has required that private schools provide an education “substantially equivalent” to that offered in public schools — but the law never defined how this is determined. After allegations of a subpar education were made by former yeshiva students, in 2015 the state began a process of seeking to define a “substantially equivalent” education.

This battle, which has played out in the halls of government, on editorial pages and on social media, has pitted those who allege some yeshivas offer a poor secular education that inadequately prepares students for life and livelihood, against those who say that parents should have autonomy in deciding their children’s education in a manner consistent with their religious beliefs, that the totality of a yeshiva education is superior to that offered in public schools, and that yeshiva graduates live more productive lives than do public-school graduates.

Under the the new regulations, private schools may satisfy the substantial-equivalency requirement by either registering as offering Regents exams; being accredited by a government-approved accrediting body; or being assessed and deemed compliant by the local school authority (LSA), which is the schools chancellor in New York City and the local school board elsewhere.

The Regents option is the simplest one for those yeshivas that offer these exams; and if a yeshiva’s high school is registered as a school that offers Regents exams, the entire school, including its elementary grades, is deemed substantially equivalent. But a school that is elementary-only (as are many yeshivas outside Brooklyn) may not use this option.

The accreditation option appears to be the next-best option for yeshivas, though there are virtually no accrediting agencies that have dealt with the yeshiva community. If the regulations pass, yeshiva groups will likely renew efforts to establish accrediting agencies dedicated to serving their community.

The LSA review is deemed by yeshiva groups to be most intrusive, as it would give this government entity the power to review and either approve or reject a yeshiva’s curriculum.

While the regulations apply to all private schools, its practical effect would be felt almost entirely on yeshivas, as nearly all Catholic and independent private schools in the state already have Regents programs or are accredited.

An earlier version of regulations proposed in 2019 would have required LSA reviews for all private schools, and mandated specific courses of study along with the number of hours required for each course. These proposed regulations were withdrawn after the public-comment period netted 140,000 comments, nearly all of which opposed the regulations.

Yeshiva advocates consider the newly proposed regulations somewhat less intrusive than the 2019 version, but object nonetheless.

“The specter of government overriding the will of parents and dictating how and what we teach in our private, religious schools is frightening,” Agudath Israel said in a statement.

“Those who want State control can choose the public schools,” yeshiva group PEARLS (Parents for Educational and Religious Liberty in Schools) said in a statement. “Parents who pay for a private or parochial school education do so because they believe in the mission and educational approach of those schools’ leaders.”

YAFFED (Young Advocates for Fair Education), the anti-yeshiva group comprised of former yeshiva students, tweeted Friday, “Don’t lose sight of what the Yeshivas are fighting against: Basic standards to ensure children are learning English, math, science, and social studies. The regulations proposed by the state are far from intrusive — indeed, many Yeshivas will likely find many loopholes.”

But on the call Friday, Baldwin said that in determining whether a school is substantially equivalent, an LSA review would not only look at whether yeshivas teach the core subjects of English, math, science and social studies, but also subjects including “patriotism and citizenship; history; the significance and the effect of the provisions of the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution and the New York State Constitution and their amendments; New York State history and civics; physical education; health education regarding alcohol, drugs and tobacco abuse; highway safety and traffic regulation; fire drills, fire and arson prevention and injury prevention,” and CPR and AED use.

“The State affirmed today that there are more than twenty instructional prerequisites that private schools will have to offer if they want to educate students in New York,” PEARLS said in its statement. “A Government checklist, devised by lawyers and enforced by bureaucrats, hampers rather than advances education.”

The regulations provide that even if a school is assessed to be substantially equivalent by an LSA, “persons considering themselves aggrieved” by this determination may file an appeal to the education commissioner, and the school may have to be re-examined. Yeshiva advocates strongly objected to this provision, saying it would open the door to anti-yeshiva individuals and organizations to appeal any yeshiva’s substantial-equivalency ruling, even if that person or organization has no relation to the school.

This provision has remained in the final regulations. The Education Department said in its official response to these complaints that “aggrieved persons” are only those who have “suffered personal damage or injury to his or her civil, personal, or property rights,” but this definition is not in the text of the regulations.

Children attending schools not seemed substantially equivalent may be deemed truant and their parents may be fined or jailed.

But PEARLS said yeshivas will continue to educate its students per its traditions, regardless of government mandates.

“Parents in New York have been choosing a yeshiva education for more than 120 years,” PEARLS said, “and they are proud of the successful results, and will continue to do the same, with or without the blessing or support of State leaders in Albany.”

The Board of Regents, the governing body of the Education Department, is scheduled to vote on the regulations sometime during its next meeting, to be held Monday and Tuesday. If the regulations pass, they will take effect September 28.

The full regulations, and a summary of the comments opposing and supporting the regulations, are available by clicking here

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rborchardt@hamodia.com