The OU has just published a series of ads claiming de Balsio’s prekindergarten policy costs Jewish families $50 million a year because de Blasio’s program mandates full-day participation, and Orthodox and haredi schools refuse to provide that. Instead, they provide a half-day of religious studies coupled with various additional amounts of secular studies.
OU Takes Out Ads Against Mayor To Try To Force City To Fund 1/2 Day Pre-K For Haredim, Orthodox
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
The Orthodox Union (OU) has lashed out a Mayor Bill de Blasio over his universal prekindergarten program, the Daily News reported.
The OU has just published a series of ads claiming de Balsio’s prekindergarten policy costs Jewish families $50 million a year because de Blasio’s program mandates full-day participation, and Orthodox and haredi schools refuse to provide that. Instead, they provide a half-day of religious studies coupled with various additional amounts of secular studies.
“Mr. Mayor…MAKE UNIVERSAL PER-K UNIVERSAL,” the ads reportedly say.
Fewer than 1,000 Orthodox Jewish families have reportedly enrolled their children in full-day pre-k programs, the OU’s political director Maury Litwack said. He estimates that approximately 5,000 Orthodox families haven’t enrolled their children and instead spend about $10,000 a year each to pay for non-compliant pre-K.
“The city should help those families by offering more half-day slots so they too can take advantage of the city’s free, universal pre-K. The time has come for our community to become a part of the mayor’s signature program. Jewish day school students are being left out,” Litwack said.
Litwack claims to have met with city officials about this issue on December 2, but the city has not yet proposed a solution.
Because publicly funded schools cannot advocate for a specific religion or teach specific religious doctrine (other than in a comparative religion setting and the like), pre-k programs funded by the city must be religion neutral. And Orthodox and haredi parents claim adding religious study at the completion of the full day of pre-k isn’t an option they would agree to.
“Logistically, it doesn’t work. You can’t take a 4- or 5-year-old child and subject them to two different schools a day,” Morris Tabush, a 35-year-old who plans to enroll his 4-year old son in a private Orthodox pre-K, said.
The OU wants more half-day pre-k slots to be added by the city. De Blasio’s spokesman, Wiley Norvell, said the city has thousands of half-day pre-k slots already, and is planning on adding more full-time pre-k slots this year.
“This is a single, high-quality system. We only select the best providers who meet our standards,” Norvell said.
Many hasidic schools are notorious for not teaching secular studies after the eighth grade, while others stop as early as the third grade. When secular studies are taught, they are added as an afterthought at the end of a long school day and often compacted into a 4-day per week 90 minute time slot.
A group of former students of these schools is currently in the process of suing the state and the city over the lack of enforcement of state education law that allows this substandard education to continue.
The OU has not commented on that lawsuit, and has not advocated in any way for the students who are deprived of meaningful secular education by these hasidic schools.
[Hat Tip: The Lion.]