With Gov. Kathy Hochul preparing what is likely to be a tough reelection fight next year, she is driving the state's budget deal packed with politically popular initiatives aimed at making life in New York more affordable.
She is not eager to talk about the resulting last minute addition to the budget aimed at attracting Hasid's Jews, a relatively small but highly influential group of voters, but it may not be widely popular with her democratic base.
The governor faces a wave of criticism for his efforts to undermine the obscure century-old law that demands private schools provide basic education. Changes to the law are a top priority for state Hasid leaders, and its support is highly coveted for election season.
The measure is expected to pass through the Senate and Congress in the coming days.
One faction of the Satmar Hasidic Community celebrated the bill on social media on Wednesday, writing that the state's budget includes “amendments to laws ensuring freedom of education!”
Education experts, including the state director of education, have accused Hochul of seeking political support at the expense of children, as well as some lawmakers and several members of the governor's own staff.
The law applies to all private schools, but primarily affects all boys' Hasid schools known as Yeshibas. The push to adjust rules for such schools that have raised hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars but sometimes do not provide basic secular education was led by Congress President Karl Heaty. His meeting includes ultra-Orthodox and Hasid lawmakers who are deeply skeptical of government involvement in schools and have supported change for years.
Support was also provided by non-Jewish legislators representing the lower and middle parts of the Hudson Valley, where the large Hasid community is located.
The governor's support for the measure may provide insight into how unsettling Hochul is around 2026 when both her in Hudson Valley and the Congressional Democrats are fighting for tenure.
The opportunity to bring court to court Hasid's community, which tends to vote as a bloc, will boost Democrats' outlook for Republican counterparts.
This law delays the outcomes of private schools that do not provide basic education and makes it very easy for schools to demonstrate that they are following the law.
Under the new language, private schools that need to be accredited to demonstrate compliance will be easier to hire priority accreditation bodies, and changes may open the door for the Hasid community to create their own institutions.
Schools can demonstrate that they are following the law by providing some form of exam at the end of the year, including, but not limited to, annual standardized tests that the state offers to public school students.
Critics quickly attacked.
Sen. Liz Kruger, a Manhattan Democrat, described the measure as “a secret backroom deal.”
“When I wonder why so many Americans have faith, when people in the elected office make decisions for the right reasons, I point this to the perfect example,” she added.
Last week, state education commissioner Betty Rosa called the change a “tragedy” for children.
“This is not a policy decision,” her spokesman JP O'Hare said earlier this week. “This is interference.”
Adina Mermelstein Konikoff, director of Yaffed, a group supporting Yeshivas' secular education, was called “a direct attack on the future of tens of thousands of Hasid children.”
Heastie characterized the measure as an effort to give religious schools a variety of options to comply with state laws. “It's not loose,” he said. “We used a lot of regulations put in place by the state legislative committee, which just allows yeshivas and schools to gain compliance.”
He supported changes in the law despite the confusion, and in some cases he established opposition from legislators who felt that changes were rushed and undermine the state's efforts to raise education standards.
Congressman Mika Rusher, a Manhattan Democrat, said he was “deeply uncomfortable with what's going on here.”
“At best, we are asked to sign off to a major policy shift in the 11th hour without any actual public discussion,” he said. “It happens frequently in Albany, but here the future of thousands of children is at stake.”
The governor also faced an internal uprising from members of the senior staff. This is because several people from the governor's office who spoke anonymously said they didn't want to publicly criticize Hochul.
The governor defended the change when he appeared at Albany on Tuesday morning.
“This is important to members of Congress,” she said. “They brought it to our attention.”
She rejected the notion that change would lower educational standards. “We haven't changed what substantial equivalence wants,” she said, referring to the name of the law. “We're just saying there are other ways to do that.”
The group representing Hasidic Yeshivas did not reply to requests for comment.
Rabbi Moishe Indig, leader of one faction of the Satmar Hasidic Group, said he supported Hochul's re-election in 2022.
“So we expect her to do what she said when she was running,” he said.
Hochul has been stakes her reputation by helping democrats win and maintain statewide legislative seats. New York's Hasidine community spans throughout Brooklyn and the Hudson Valley, an area that includes two highly competitive council districts.
Hudson Valley president Pat Ryan has close ties with the ultra-Orthodox community in his district, facing perhaps the toughest race in the state, and was one of those pushing behind the scenes. A spokesman for Ryan declined to comment.
Republican leader Mike Lawler, who holds another seat in the Hudson Valley, is openly silent about his run with Hochul.
His path to victory, and the path of several other Republican candidates, relies in part on increasing scores among Hasid voters. Mr. Lawler's district includes a large Hasid community, and he is a strong alliance with Hasid leaders.
Rep. Chris Ys, a Democrat who represents Rockland and parts of Orange County, also supported the change. “I probably have more yeshivas in my district than any other type of private school,” he said.
“As a school as a whole, what we came up with was worried about causing mass closures of schools,” he said. “We can still get rid of a handful of very poor educational institutions in New York State. All other private institutions will do well.”
But proponents of expanding secular research in Yeshivas said the revised law would make it difficult to impose results on schools that do not provide adequate education.
After complaints came up from Yeshiva graduates, from graduates who said their education was not ready to navigate the world and find work, the state education department has spent nearly a decade figuring out how to measure schools and punish Yeshiva that has not followed the law.
In some cases, Hasid's leaders have publicly said they would never provide a robust secular curriculum.
A 2022 New York Times survey found that all students failed in one big hashed yeshiva that provided the state test.
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