Says SED Is Not Authorized to Close Yeshivas or Require Parents to Unenroll Their Children from Yeshivas of Their Choice

The New York Court of Appeals issued its long-awaited decision in the litigation challenging the State Education Department regulations. While the court disappointingly upheld the lower court decision in form, it did so in practice by limiting the State Education Department’s authority over yeshivas and yeshiva parents. Specifically, the Court of Appeals instructed that SED is not authorized to close yeshivas and is not authorized to direct parents to unenroll their children from the yeshiva they chose for them.

This is very significant, because SED and the New York City Department of Education had directed six yeshivas to close, and had advised dozens of parents that their children cannot receive crucial special education services there this coming year. YWN expects the Adams Administration to now notify those parents that their children can remain in their chosen yeshivas and receive their services.

Indeed, the final sentence of the Court of Appeals decision declares that “parents . . . must determine how then to ensure their compliance with the Education Law.” That’s what YWN has been saying all along: it is parents and not the State or City that control how their children are educated.

The decision also undercut another recent claim made by the State Education Department: that the six yeshivas deemed non-equivalent by SED cannot become equivalent using the new pathways created by the recent amendments to the Education Law.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL COURT DECISION

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)