Betsy DeVos Visits 2 Orthodox Schools In New York — And No Public Ones
Image by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
(JTA) — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos visited two yeshiva high schools in New York this week, amid allegations that such schools fail to provide an appropriate secular education.
“Secretary DeVos made these historic visits to better understand Jewish education, a unique and time-honored tradition, within the diversity of the American educational tapestry,” said Rabbi Abba Cohen of the ultra-Orthodox organization Agudath Israel of America, which pressed for the visits.
“In these schools, she saw commitment, innovation, inclusion, and values. Hopefully, also, the Secretary has gained a greater appreciation of why Jewish education means nothing less than ‘continuity and survival’ to us… and why we sacrifice so much to provide it to our children.” Cohen said Thursday in an email to JTA.
DeVos visited the Manhattan School for Girls on Tuesday and on Wednesday visited Yeshiva Darchei Torah, a preschool through high school yeshiva with divisions for boys and girls.
The secretary’s visit comes as New York City’s Department of Edcuation investigates whether Hasidic schools provide an adequate secular education to its students. The investigation was launched in, response to allegations by former students of such schools that the city and state failed them and that they were not prepared for life or employment in the outside world. The two schools that DeVos visited do have tracks that prepare students for higher education. Their students also take the state Regents exam, which measures their readiness for higher education.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
