What is the Reality Behind NYSED's New Guidelines?

Rabbi Yaakov Bender, RY of Darchei Torah

Last week I presented my views on averting the educational crisis perceived by the entire spectrum of Orthodox Jewish educators. The fear was that NYSED’s new guidelines required so much time to be allocated for secular studies that it would be nearly impossible to devote any significant time for religious studies.

It was clarified by NYSED that this was not the case at all. The amount of time that NYSED required fell well within the time allocations already committed to secular studies by most Orthodox schools. This was pretty much the way the OU felt about it

Thereupon, I received a very stern e-mail from an individual that the crisis has not been averted at all. And that my claim was a disservice to the Orthodox Jewish community. The real issue was as of yet unresolved. Which is the principle that the right to decide what Yeshivas should and should not teach belongs with us. Not the government.

I do however wonder about the urgency with which this is being pursued any further by members of the right. Especialy the moderate Charedi Yeshivos that do after all comply with these guidelines. And they always have. So why are they now throwing down the gauntlet despite the fact that as it stands now things are not much different than they were before?

I can only answer that they seem to be fighting Yeshivos like Satmar’s battle for them. They are the ones that are negatively affected by NYSED even after their clarification. I understand that they might feel that Satmar has a right to educate their children as they see fit. But this should not be their battle. 

This is exactly what Naftuli Moster said in an open letter to Rabbi Yaakov Bender. Before I get to that I want to repeat what I have said in the past about him. I have no clue what is in Moster’s heart. But it has been made abundantly clear to me by people that have had more direct contact with him that he has an ulterior motive to destroy all Yeshivos. I am not in any position to argue with them. All I can do is read what he wrote in that open letter and agree with it.

Moster seemed to approve of Yeshivos like those of Rabbi Bender’s Yeshiva, Darchei Torah. However Moster expressed dismay at Rabbi Bender’s apparent support for Yeshivos like Satmar that offer no secular curriculum at all. He added that those schools are nothing like Rabbi Bender’s own Yeshiva, Darchei Torah. They place a high value on secular studies and would never accept the dismal standards of those Chasidic Yeshivos for themselves.

How dismal those standards are - is fairly well known. But it was made quite clear in a private e-mail sent to me last week by a reader. Which said the following in pertinent part: 

I am a lifetime Brooklyn resident and I went to yeshiva. Including a few years at Mir. The charedi schools here provide an acceptable level of secular education. In my day, regents were mandatory. The Satmar and some other chasidic yeshivas do not provide any level of secular education, and despite their protests to the contrary, this is public knowledge.

I grew up with kids who could not write English. So here today, the mainstream orthodox community finds itself subject to unrealistic demands by the DOE, as a result of a problem they did not cause.

The chasidic community is content to have everyone fighting their battle. Oone that they caused themselves.

The only real solution is for Jews to call them out on this.  Unfortunately, this will never happen. Aguda and other organizations have proved their unwillingness to take on this fight, even though they know the truth. 

I replied that I fully agreed with him and have said virtually the same thing myself right here in the past.

I want to make clear that this is not in any way to disparage the above mentioned rabbinic leaders. I  have nothing but the greatest respect for them and what they do for Klal Yisroel. But that does not mean I can't disagree with them. And on this issue I do. 

I cannot understand why they are raising the red  flag now since nothing has changed for them. Nor has NYSED demanded anything of them that they do not already do. Indeed NYSED's whole purpose in all this was in response to calls by people concerned with the welfare of children attending schools that they would never send their own children to.

In response to that, I have been told that they fear government insistence on teaching values foreign to Torah values. This exactly is what one of their coalition partners, the Catholic Archdiocese, fears too. I was sent the following quote from the Archdiocese by someone involved with this issue: 

There is no protection against government officials who are hostile to religious schools or who just want to eliminate the competition. One can only imagine the kinds of curricula and materials that school boards could mandate – such as the wicked sex education required in the New York City public schools, which includes graphic instruction on sex and gender ideology as young as kindergarten… 

Education is more than just lesson plans and test scores. Every school has a culture of its own that is a profound influence over the children. Religious schools reinforce the faith in every activity, including in the teaching of secular subjects. Moral values are taught not just by instruction, but by example. Religious parents want their kids to grow up in that kind of environment, not in the chaotic, dangerous and immoral atmosphere present in so many public schools. This is their natural inalienable right." 

OK. I hear that.  But I do not see anything in the current guidelines that would require that of religious schools. And neither did the OU apparently. 

That said, I still believe that those fears need to be allayed by NYSED.  And perhaps then we can all breath a collective sigh of relief as we end up with the best of both worlds. Which would mean granting religious autonomy to religious schools so they can teach their own morals and values, while at the same time assuring that all of their children attending a religious school will get a quality secular education as well. – including those that in the past were denied it.