Rockland County, NY – State education officials along with members of the East Ramapo Central District School Board and administrators from four yeshivas were hit with a class-action lawsuit on Friday by parents of current students and ex-yeshiva students who charge they are failing to provide adequate secular educations for boys.
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LOHUD.com (http://lohud.us/1MGMGqa) reports that in a 42-page document filed U. S. Southern District Court in Manhattan on Friday, seven plaintiffs contend that the defendants named showed “willful blindness and deliberate refusal to acknowledge that yeshiva students need, require, and are legally entitled to, at the very least, a minimally adequate secular education in addition to their religious education.”
The suit further charges that four specific Hasidic yeshivas—located in Monsey, Spring Valley, and New Square—not only don’t teach English, but fail at providing children with “basic literacy, calculating, and verbal skills necessary to enable children to eventually function productively as civil participants.”
The suit, which was filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by Advocates for Justice, is seeking a “gradual introduction” of secular studies by educators who are deemed “competent” in English instruction, as well as oversight from the state in enforcing a minimum of thee-hours daily of secular education.
Former yeshiva students who are part of the suit are seeking educational remediation program support as part of an award.
Named as defendants in the suit are Merryl Tisch, Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, MaryEllen Elia Commissioner of the State Education Department New York, the State Department of Education, the New York Board of Regents and New York State.
Defendants also include the East Ramapo school district and the board of education.
The four yeshivas and administrators named as defendants are Yiedel Spitzer of the United Talmudical Academy in Spring Valley and Monsey; Moshe Kohn of Yeshiva Darkei Emunah in Spring Valley; Ernest Schwartz of Yeshiva Tzion Yosef in Spring Valley; and Eluzer Moshel and Dov Goldman of Yeshiva Avir Yakov in New Square
Laura Barbieri, an attorney with Advocates for Justice, said it took considerable time to pull the suit together due to fear from the plaintiffs that social pressure and retaliation from the tight-knit Hasidic community may be forthcoming.
Accordingly, the suit states, “They and their families risk being shunned or expelled from the community, having their businesses boycotted and ruined, suffering verbal threats and abuses, physical assault and property damage.”
Barbieri added, “In the East Ramapo Central school district, we primarily represent the parents and children of that district. We believe that they are being injured by the board and the district. Those individuals, those defendants, who we have charged with committing various infractions of the constitution, have taken their interests and used them in favor of the religious communities. And that puts the public school children at risk, particularly the quality of their education and the lack of sound, basic education that is resulting from the decisions the East Ramapo Central School District is making.”
To all these ignorant dropouts of the heimishe chasidishe system. I have 1 msg to you. You r Mosrim 1 of a kind! You bring on a chilul Hashem of trmendous magnitude. My children grew up in the so called uneducational system and are far more intelligent that you guys claim to be. I saw an interview with the so called superhero blaming everyone around him. Yes, we need some upgrading but lawsuit??!!! So far I see that the REAL successful richies come from OUR “none”educational schools. Theyre brilliant, articulate and raking millions without degrees and so called proper education. They cut thru the chase and climb to the top. A lot to be proud of. Senseless baseless accusations. What you guys acquire in 10 years we do in 10 weeks. U know what brains are!??!! Something u guys have no clue of. Chilul Hashem!
What I want to know is, what are these kids doing a whole day in lieu of secular studies? Can a ninth grader really sit & learn a whole day??? I have been a counselor for some of these boys. They end up just hocking about nonsense all day. They have zero appreciation for time. The chasdisha couhrim end up hocking about rebas and the yeshivish are wasting time about rosh yeshivas. if your eleventh grader is learning flasig then OK no secular studies. But 99% of ninth graders are not. Rabosi wake up do you wnat your kids to grow up being a bunch of bored hockers. then stop this nonsense. Both chasidsh and yeshivish have t stop this no going to secular studies trend
I’m not commenting on the value of the suit. However, including Merryl Tisch, Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, in the suit is laughable. Her immediate defense should be “Me favor Hasidim? Ridiculous!” I’m not saying she is a self-hating Jew, but she certainly is not in favor of the Orthodox, let alone the “ultra-Orthodox.”
These politicians, askanim and rabbonim should be charged with child abuse for denying the yiinglach the most basic educational and social skills to earn a parnassah and function in a diverse society.
When the names of these parents leak out, I hope they are prepared to be shunned. They will need to move out of the area, their kids will be expelled and their businesses destroyed. It takes extreme bravery to have these kids educated. I wish them well.
The house of cards are finally starting to fall. First Brooklyn, and now this. These schools take in millions of dollars in funds earmarked for text books, computers science lab equipment, etc. How much do you think actually gets spent on any of that? I am guessing close to zero. People need to go to jail for this fraud and I anxiously await that wonderful day.
I know that this is not the solution to the overall problem but the lack of literacy in English could be tackled without resistance if the boys were made to read Jewish topics in English – like the mesilas yeshorim, tomer devorah, even kitzur shulchan aruch or mishnayos.
I like the way our community always have this argument that we have millionaires without education. Having a few doesn’t mean we make it. Making it would mean at least not having debts AND not on government assistance.. Show me how many we have of that. How about being able to fill out a form when you take your child to the doctor without calling your wife for answers? How about knowing just basics! Our grandparents spoke Hungarian! It’s only after the war that we decided it’s mesorah. It’s a crime that when you have a growing family you have to take English classes to even get somewhere. Our boys have a long day in cheider and they can’t even read and write! Wasted time and chutzpah is the norm. We should have made the change so it would not get to this.
If the graduates the no-English yeshivas are doing so great, why is Kiryas Joel the poorest neighborhood in the nation? And why are 50% of Haredi families living below the poverty line, according to studies? For larger families of more than 6 ppl, the poverty is even more widespread.
I’m agreeing comments made above, from people like #1 .
You guys would have left normal non chasidishe yeshivas too! Let’s not kid ourselves. You probably have learning etc issues that were never dealt with and you’re looking to blame anyone BUT yourselves.
NYC Public school pays 19,076.00 per child per year. (tax dollars)
Yeshivos pay (actual) around 5,000 per child per year.
Public school graduates are more likely to commit violent crimes and get arrested.
Yeshiva graduates are more likely to get married and get a job and become successful businessmen.