Anonymous wrote:There’s an episode of This American Life that covers some of what happened in a suburban district in NY that I happened to grow up near. It’s not pretty and honestly this doesn’t bode well for your community.

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/534/a-not-so-simple-majority

Anonymous wrote:There’s an episode of This American Life that covers some of what happened in a suburban district in NY that I happened to grow up near. It’s not pretty and honestly this doesn’t bode well for your community.

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/534/a-not-so-simple-majority

Anonymous wrote:Sorry didn't read the article but does everyone just depend on tax dollars to support their families when they become adults?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That article was heartbreaking. The root of the problem seems to be that these communities use their power as a voting block to pressure politicians to cave to their demands. I was wondering if the Governor of NY could put the schools into receivership and turn the power of oversight to the New York State Department of Education. Since that body is not elected, they could make demands of the schools without the fear of losing their jobs. The fact that we are allowing young people to leave school without a working knowledge of English, the language of employment in the United States, is criminal. We have mandatory school attendance laws in the country because we have a shared belief that through education every citizen can gain the skills to become self-supporting. These schools are not fulfilling that important role.

It's more complicated. They are in NY and they vote democratic. Given how blue NY is, they are not that crucial to the mayor or the governor. Yes, maybe some city council member or state senator get sacked, but then they are entitled to representation, aren't they?

The problem is that they don't fit neatly into the popular narrative. It's not that they do not educate their boys, they teach them some pretty complicated stuff that has no connection to mainstream American life and is not taught in English. It's hard to crack down on that without starting on a slippery slope to something decidedly un-American. Unlike in some other countries, it's not considered acceptable here to say that everyone must speak English, or everyone must be employable or self-supporting.

The girls, btw, are doing better because they are not considered worthy to learn the hard stuff, so they study math and English. According to that article, the girls perform about the same as the low income kids from public schools, which makes sense. Also I am pretty sure they had zero prep for those tests, although even low income public schools do some.

Agree with everything here except one point,, which is their voting tendencies. Although other Jews vote blue, this community actually leans red and theur voting patterns actually most closely mirror those of Mormons.

https://www.city-journal.org/new-study-charts-political-shifts-among-american-jews

They vote as they are told. They control local politics and vote for people who will support them, red or blue.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure how to link an article, but recently there was an article about how 100 percent of the students at some of these Orthodox Hasidic Schools in NY failed standardized testing.

This is a subject I'm quite concerned about as this is affecting my school district directly although I am not in NY. Our town is in the midst of building at least 8 or 10 Orthodox schools (there are zero here now) and our local public school boards have all been taken over by the very same people building these religious schools. There are supposedly plans on the books for at least FIFTEEN more schools in our town over the course of the next decade. The economic devastation this will cause despite the fact that these children are not even receiving a basic education, is astounding. How is it allowed to continue?

I have no problem with people practicing their religion in any way they see fit, provided it doesn't harm others around them. When there is an entire population of children that is going to be unable to provide for themselves and their families, when they cannot read, do basic math, have been abused physically and emotionally apparently (according to the article), this will not only take a toll on the children themselves, but on the greater society to which we all belong.

I also have a huge problem with the tax dollars that are being used to support a school that isn't even providing education...which everyone should be opposed to on principle.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That article was heartbreaking. The root of the problem seems to be that these communities use their power as a voting block to pressure politicians to cave to their demands. I was wondering if the Governor of NY could put the schools into receivership and turn the power of oversight to the New York State Department of Education. Since that body is not elected, they could make demands of the schools without the fear of losing their jobs. The fact that we are allowing young people to leave school without a working knowledge of English, the language of employment in the United States, is criminal. We have mandatory school attendance laws in the country because we have a shared belief that through education every citizen can gain the skills to become self-supporting. These schools are not fulfilling that important role.

It's more complicated. They are in NY and they vote democratic. Given how blue NY is, they are not that crucial to the mayor or the governor. Yes, maybe some city council member or state senator get sacked, but then they are entitled to representation, aren't they?

The problem is that they don't fit neatly into the popular narrative. It's not that they do not educate their boys, they teach them some pretty complicated stuff that has no connection to mainstream American life and is not taught in English. It's hard to crack down on that without starting on a slippery slope to something decidedly un-American. Unlike in some other countries, it's not considered acceptable here to say that everyone must speak English, or everyone must be employable or self-supporting.

The girls, btw, are doing better because they are not considered worthy to learn the hard stuff, so they study math and English. According to that article, the girls perform about the same as the low income kids from public schools, which makes sense. Also I am pretty sure they had zero prep for those tests, although even low income public schools do some.

Agree with everything here except one point,, which is their voting tendencies. Although other Jews vote blue, this community actually leans red and theur voting patterns actually most closely mirror those of Mormons.

https://www.city-journal.org/new-study-charts-political-shifts-among-american-jews

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:15 schools? For how many children? Where do they go to school now?

They are currently bussed to a nearby town but the population is exploding and they need separate schools for boys and girls and also the schools are not large ones like some public schools are. they are expanding into this town and need schools here . Look up what happened in Ramapo school district. The same thing is happening here now .

It is unsustainable, especially when you consider very few of the students using these funds and schools will be able to (or even try to ) support themselves, their families . It is a crisis in my opinion.

NP. That makes more sense, the students exist. But if the students fail all the standardized tests, the schools will lose accreditation and funding.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That article was heartbreaking. The root of the problem seems to be that these communities use their power as a voting block to pressure politicians to cave to their demands. I was wondering if the Governor of NY could put the schools into receivership and turn the power of oversight to the New York State Department of Education. Since that body is not elected, they could make demands of the schools without the fear of losing their jobs. The fact that we are allowing young people to leave school without a working knowledge of English, the language of employment in the United States, is criminal. We have mandatory school attendance laws in the country because we have a shared belief that through education every citizen can gain the skills to become self-supporting. These schools are not fulfilling that important role.

It's more complicated. They are in NY and they vote democratic. Given how blue NY is, they are not that crucial to the mayor or the governor. Yes, maybe some city council member or state senator get sacked, but then they are entitled to representation, aren't they?

The problem is that they don't fit neatly into the popular narrative. It's not that they do not educate their boys, they teach them some pretty complicated stuff that has no connection to mainstream American life and is not taught in English. It's hard to crack down on that without starting on a slippery slope to something decidedly un-American. Unlike in some other countries, it's not considered acceptable here to say that everyone must speak English, or everyone must be employable or self-supporting.

The girls, btw, are doing better because they are not considered worthy to learn the hard stuff, so they study math and English. According to that article, the girls perform about the same as the low income kids from public schools, which makes sense. Also I am pretty sure they had zero prep for those tests, although even low income public schools do some.

Anonymous wrote:It's heartbreaking. I feel really badly for the kids.

My mom's best friend was Orthodox. Her daughters all learned to read and write in English, and went on to have decent jobs outside the home (e.g., court clerk, nurse, paralegal). Her sons really struggled. One of them wanted to become an EMT but had a ton of trouble with the exam.

Anonymous wrote:

It’s what they want. There’s no way to change it except by persuasion. They may just be ignoring the testing, not failing.

It's what who wants? Several young men interviewed for the article and in another documentary I saw said it was definitely not what they wanted for themselves.

Anonymous wrote:OP, you need to get involved or move. The trouble is, so few people actually vote or pay attention, its easy for fundamentalist groups -- or any group willing to do the work -- to come in and take over.