Parents, advocates sue New York over rollback of yeshiva education standards | amNewYork

"A coalition of parents, advocates and a prominent education lawyer is suing New York state, accusing lawmakers of quietly gutting standards for religious schools and denying tens of thousands of Hasidic and Haredi children a basic education. On Sept. 18, Michael Rebell, lead counsel and professor emeritus of law and educational practice at Teachers College, Columbia University, joined by the firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP and the Youth Advocacy and Policy Lab at Harvard Law School, announced the class-action lawsuit in Kings County Supreme Court."

"It challenges a provision added to the state's $237 billion fiscal year 2026 budget that rolls back education standards for nonpublic schools, including yeshivas. New York's Education Law Section 3204 requires that nonpublic school students, including those at religious schools, receive an education substantially equivalent to what public schools provide. That includes instruction in core subjects such as English, math and history. The New York State Education Department (NYSED) spent years drafting regulations to enforce those standards."

"Advocates say the new changes weaken those standards particularly for yeshivas, which primarily focus on religious instruction in Hebrew and Yiddish and limits the state's ability to enforce compliance, stripping away testing requirements. Schools can now pick their own assessments, switch them at will and remain in compliance simply by offering the exams to a minimum number of students, regardless of how students score."

A coalition of parents, advocates and legal groups filed a class-action lawsuit in Kings County Supreme Court on behalf of four plaintiffs and about 100,000 Hasidic and Haredi students. The suit names Gov. Kathy Hochul, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and the state of New York. The complaint challenges a fiscal year 2026 budget provision that rolls back education standards for nonpublic schools, including yeshivas. New York Education Law Section 3204 requires substantially equivalent instruction in core subjects. Advocates contend the budget change weakens enforcement, removes testing requirements, and lets schools choose and change assessments while remaining compliant.

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