New York – Despite assurances of “zero tolerance” from city and state elected officials and promises of transparency from both the DOE and the very yeshivas they are investigating with regard to whether or not the schools’ boys are receiving secular educations in accordance with state guidelines—-insiders say reformers are facing an uphill battle.
THEJEWISHWEEK.com reports that assurances and promises aside, the man who has spearheaded the DOE investigation, 29 year-old Borough Park yeshiva graduate Naftuli Moster, is likely facing the same roadblocks that have guaranteed insularity within the community for decades “including the separation of church and state, the cozy relationship between local politicians and powerful chasidic leaders thought to control significant voting blocs and questions about whether, in fact, those leaders are purposely neglecting secular education as a way to keep their followers in the fold.”
Since the DOE announced its investigation into 39 city yeshivas on the heels of Moster’s 52-signature letter, it seems almost everyone involved has been delicately tip-toeing around the issue, with few offering up answers to the myriad of questions currently floated.
The JEWISH WEEK’s lengthy piece detailing the issues surrounding the DOE probe is perhaps best summed up in the statement from Moster’s Young Advocates for Fair Education, or, Yaffed’s attorney Norman Siegel, who said, “This is a hot political issue. It’s radioactive.”
But Moster, Yaffed, and Siegel remain steadfast in their effort to shine a light on the real victims in the matter, the community’s children who are being shortchanged educationally.
“When it comes time for elections,” Siegel said. “this should be an issue that people should be aware of. And for elected officials in high positions who ignore the violation of civil rights, history says that sooner or later, they’re held politically accountable.”
As reported by Vos Iz Neias