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Wednesday, September 06, 2017

Yeshivas are breaking the law by skimping on English instruction, secular school supporters say 

The average Hasidic elementary school student gets just 90 minutes a day of English, reading and writing instruction, in violation of state law, according to a report by advocates for secular education.

"When yeshivas do provide education in secular subjects, it is in just a few grades, for one hour to ninety minutes at the end of the long school day," says the report by Yaffed, a progressive Jewish group.

In July 2015, the city Department of Education launched a probe into accusations by Yaffed that ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools fail to provide basic secular classes.

That probe has dragged on for more than two years, frustrating secular education advocates.

On Wednesday, Yaffed held a press conference on the steps of City Hall slamming the de Blasio administration's response to the issue.

"The investigation is ongoing and we are treating this matter with utmost seriousness," said Education Department spokeswoman Toya Holness. The department has not given a date for the review's completion.

Meanwhile, thousands of Hasidic yeshiva students are being deprived of a basic secular education, which violates state law, the advocates say. Some of the yeshiva teachers themselves barely speak English, they contend.

"The 'English' period is often treated as free time for restless students," the Yaffed report says. "Textbooks are heavily censored, when they are used at all."

High schools rarely offer any secular education, according to the advocates.

As a result, the average yeshiva graduate speaks little or no English and "has few or no marketable skills," the report says.

They are then often forced to rely on public assistance to support their families, advocates say.

"Poverty is rampant in New York's Hasidic communities," the report says.


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