On Tues., the New York State Board of Regents unanimously approved new guidelines that require religious and other private schools to provide secular instruction that's "substantially equivalent" to their public counterparts.
Beginning next September, the state's school districts will be required to identify all private schools in their areas, and then visit each school by the end of the 2024-25 school year to ensure each institution meets the requirements.
These regulations are a blatant attack on religious freedoms and a slippery downhill slope toward the state gaining complete power over children and their education. Parents should be allowed to prioritize a religious education for their children without state intervention in the curriculum.
Students at many Orthodox Jewish Yeshiva schools in New York are being systematically denied a quality education. Instead of being taught fundamental subjects like math or science, these students are being educated almost entirely in prayer and religious texts. While religious freedom is important, these schools are fundamentally failing their students and creating young adults with no skills to navigate the outside world.