Posted on 04/09/2023 11:58:18 AM PDT by Twotone
For almost 130 years, New York State has required private and non-public schools to offer a curriculum “substantially equivalent” to those offered in local public schools. That requirement has been loosely enforced, and the state education department issued new regulations in September 2022 that promised a more aggressive approach. But last week, New York Supreme Court Judge Christina Ryba partially invalidated those regulations. The ruling overturned neither the state’s compulsory-education law nor the substantial-equivalency law upon which the September regulations had been based. Rather, it invalidated the enforcement mechanism included in those regulations, which, Ryba found, would shut down schools out of step with the substantial-equivalency requirement. The compulsory-education law applies to parents, not schools, Ryba argued; accordingly, enforcement actions would have to be brought against parents instead of the schools themselves.
The ruling comes at a time of fierce debate over substantial equivalency at religious schools serving Hasidic Jewish New Yorkers. One side of the debate has reduced these schools to a set of caricatures—arguing that the education provided in these schools is of low quality, that their graduates are consigned to lives of poverty, and that parents are coerced by religious leaders to enroll their children in these schools. Reality is more complicated.
While performing research for a Manhattan Institute issue brief on the subject, I visited a yeshiva for Hasidic boys in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood. It offers no instruction in secular subjects, but the boys I observed all seemed to be fluent English speakers. I was told that they came from homes where English was freely spoken and that some parents may choose to augment the yeshiva’s instruction with tutors in English and math. Judge Ryba’s decision anticipated that a family could ensure substantial equivalency through a combination of religious school attendance, tutoring, and homeschooling.
(Excerpt) Read more at city-journal.org ...
“arguing that the education provided in these schools is of low quality, that their graduates are consigned to lives of poverty,
Sounds like substantial equivalency to me.
they learned their lessons by studying the mistakes made in the old testament ...
“While visiting, I observed classes in Talmudic studies, with the boys and teachers moving back and forth between spoken English and Hebrew while reading passages in both Hebrew and Aramaic. The astoundingly intense lessons were characterized by highly engaged students and teachers. In a small office, a young staffer showed me a spreadsheet he was working on that tracked every second-grader’s progress in Hebrew reading proficiency. New York State does not begin to test public school students in English reading comprehension until third grade, yet this Yeshiva expected every boy to be proficient Hebrew readers by the end of first grade. A six- or seven-year-old boy who could crack that language should, I thought, have no problem conquering English.”
Yeshiva students might not have the knowledge base of math, literature,history that one gets in public schools. But they learn Talmudic reasoning, which is more useful in thinking for themselves.
“As to the hopelessness of Hasidic students’ economic prospects, that dire conclusion is belied by a look at any Hasidic community, where you will find men and women who choose to become teachers or to engage in religion-centric professions. Others choose higher secular education, entering fields such as medicine or law.
Many more run small and large businesses of every sort. And there are plumbers and electricians, car repairmen, computer programmers and IT specialists. I could introduce you to accountants, speech and physical therapists, bus drivers, social workers, Amazon sellers, butchers and bakers — yes, even candlestick makers. “
“’The critical thinking, textual analysis, reading comprehension, argumentation skills; the historical knowledge, the foreign language acquisition, the legal concepts; indeed, the Jewish culture, tradition, and ethical behavior … embedded in these schools’ religious study are genuinely remarkable,’ said Moshe Krakowski, who directs Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration.”
https://religionnews.com/2022/09/13/what-the-new-york-times-story-on-hasidic-schools-misses/
Compulsory education laws have no place in a free nation.
Talmudic "reasoning" explains why Jesus isn't the Messiah. I'm glad I wasn't raised with such "reasoning" skills.
The Democrats are so anti religion that any criticism of religious based schools reflexively is interpreted as bias. They would if their intention was better education would investigate why the large majority of graduates of urban public schools are functionally illiterate. Yet you have to wonder how many children in these schools where religious studies is the vast majority of what they do, never realize their intellectual potential and do live very limited lives. It would seem that in these very structured religious communities, there is no tolerance for exposure to other ideas. Its interesting that these structured religious groups be they Mormon, Amish, Christian or Jewish cults lose about 5% of their members in young adulthood. High birth rates keep the numbers growing or at least constant. Many try to join the US military.
It explains why Jews have survived centuries of Christian persecution
The “larger battle” is focing “Drag Queen Torah Hour” on religious Jews so they can groom their children.
Liberal Professor to Orthodox Jew: "Yeshiva education is a joke, and your children will never make it in real world"
Orthodox Jew to Professor:"That's nice. Your rent is due on the 1st of the month"
“The presupposition of the talmudic approach to life is that order is better than chaos, reflection than whim, decision than accident, ratiocination (mental activity) and rationality than witlessness and force. The only admissible force is the power of fine logic, ever refined against the gross matter of daily living. The sole purpose is so to construct the discipline of everyday life and to pattern the relationships among men that all things are intelligible, well‑regulated, trustworthy and sanctified.”
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/talmudic-thinking/
The other side could similarly argue that that the education provided in public schools is of low quality, that their graduates are consigned to lives of poverty, and that parents are coerced by school leaders to enroll their children in these schools.
And they would be largely correct.
“that their graduates are consigned to lives of poverty”
Maybe, perhaps, could it be that they are not interested in material wealth?
I get a close up look a few of the orthodox communities downstate and upstate NY and I see no poverty or want AT ALL.
“…there is no tolerance for exposure to other ideas…”
What other ideas specifically? Other ideas in science? Mathematics? Philosophy? Art? How are these ideas blocked?
I’ve been hearing that line for all of my life. PBS uses it in their ads . “ New ideas”. WHAT IDEAS? So far it seems to be ideas like white men bad. Queer good. Drag Queen story hour for children. America evil. Etc.
Ping.
5.56mm
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