https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/323882
The New York State Education Department released long-awaited guidelines Thursday on teaching secular subjects in parochial schools. They were met with immediate pushback from Orthodox Jewish leaders.
The new proposals offer several options for schools to prove their instruction is “substantially equivalent” to public schools, and will take into account different religious and cultural methods for teaching.
The proposal offers schools options if they do not want to be reviewed by their local public school authorities. One option is for schools to test students using NYSED-approved assessments for core subjects like English, math and science. Another option allows schools to become accredited by an Education Department-approved accreditation organization.
Orthodox leaders, however, still consider the guidelines an assault on education at haredi Orthodox yeshivas, where the bulk of instruction is devoted to Jewish texts in their original languages. In a public statement, Agudath Israel of America, which represents haredi interests, rejected the new guidelines, insisting that they do not take into account the “educational value of religious study.”
This is ridiculous already. Teach math. Isn't there enough in the Gemara to demand that children know basic math, geometry and algebra. There's enough science to justify teaching biology, chemistry and physics.
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