A new measure under consideration by New York lawmakers could substantially limit oversight of religious schools, marking a possible major victory for the state’s Hasidic yeshivas, the NY Times reported on Thursday.
A 2022 investigation by the Times revealed that many yeshivas—despite receiving $1 billion in public funding over the previous four years—were failing to teach core academic subjects. Although Hasidic yeshivas rely heavily on government support, most of them offer little instruction in English or math. In response, the state Education Department issued new guidelines requiring schools to meet minimum educational standards or face the loss of public funding.
In February, the New York State Education Department announced it would cut key funding for two all-boys Hasidic yeshivas in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and relocate their students to other schools by next fall. The decision effectively shuttered both institutions, marking the state’s most forceful action to date against yeshivas found in violation of education laws.
The two schools that were effectively shut down by the state are part of a broader network of yeshivas that have failed to make adequate progress in complying with Education Department requirements. The leadership of the two institutions—Yeshiva Talmud Torah of Kasho and Yeshiva Bnei Shimon Yisroel of Sopron, both located in Williamsburg—declined to meet with education officials to develop an improvement plan.
The department has announced its intention to close six Hasidic yeshivas that are failing to comply with state law. These yeshivas face a forthcoming June 30 deadline to demonstrate that they provide an education “substantially equivalent” to that of public schools, as required by regulations issued in 2022.
But now the state is weighing a proposal to lower the standards that religious schools must meet to prove compliance with education law. While the changes would formally apply to all private schools, they are primarily relevant to Hasidic yeshivas, where instruction is largely conducted in Yiddish and Hebrew, and secular studies are often limited.
The initiative has been spearheaded by Simcha Felder, who previously served in the State Senate representing a large section of Brooklyn before his recent election to the City Council, and Simcha Eichenstein, the Assembly member for a neighboring district.
Resisting state oversight of religious education is a top political priority for the Hasidic community, which tends to vote as a bloc in local and state-wide elections.
The draft bill, submitted on March 11 by the Assembly without naming a sponsor, has surfaced in the final stages of budget negotiations—a sign that its anonymous sponsors look to bypass the legislative process by inserting it directly into a budget bill.
