Four yeshivas in Brooklyn claim New York’s education rules discriminate against them
The schools involved are Bobover Yeshiva Bnei Zion, Oholei Torah, United Talmudical Academy, and Yeshiva Mesivta Arugas Habosem. They claim that reviewers are not recognizing their Jewish Studies instruction and are interfering with their hiring processes.
Avi Schick, the attorney for the yeshivas, stated that these practices threaten the schools’ Jewish identity. He emphasized that if they can’t focus on Jewish Studies, they can’t be considered Jewish schools anymore.
The complaint comes just before President-elect Trump takes office. It challenges a 2022 state regulation that reviews private schools to ensure their education is comparable to public schools.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights hasn’t confirmed if they’ve received the complaint yet. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the New York State Education Department disagreed with the yeshivas’ claims, stating that they are challenging state law.
Schick clarified that the yeshivas aren’t against the regulations themselves but are concerned about how they’re being applied to impose secular views on their schools. Private schools that meet certain criteria are exempt from these reviews.
Jewish advocates for yeshiva reform criticized the yeshivas for taking their complaint to federal court, suggesting it was a strategic move to find a more favorable outcome. They argue that some yeshivas are not adequately preparing students for life outside their community.
Adina Mermelstein Konikoff, from Young Advocates for Fair Education, called the complaint a “desperate” attempt to avoid accountability. She stressed that teaching core subjects doesn’t conflict with Jewish values; it actually supports them.
