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Ramapo, NY: Board accused of gutting public school funding in favor of private yeshivas
Source: The Guardian
Board accused of gutting public school funding in favor of private yeshivas
Civil rights groups allege school board election system in East Ramapo, north-west of New York City, disenfranchises minorities
M. Saad Ejaz in New York
Thu 27 Feb 2020 11.00 GMT
Last modified on Thu 27 Feb 2020 12.29 GMT
A school board composed mostly of Orthodox Jewish parents has favored students in private religious schools over mostly black and Latino students in public schools, civil rights groups have alleged in federal court.
The groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, blame a school board election system that is common across the US and that, they say, disenfranchises minorities.
Since 2005, the East Ramapo school board, which covers a few small towns an hour’s drive north-west of New York City, has been controlled by members who represent private yeshivas, or Jewish religious schools, according to a report by the New York state education department. The vast majority of the 26,500 children who attend private schools in the district are white. In contrast, 91% of the 9,000 or so children enrolled in public schools are black and Latino.
In 2009, the board began gutting the public-school system, the report states. Between 2009 and 2014, the board fired over 450 staff, including 160 teachers, three guidance counselors and all social workers. It also cut budgets for athletic and extracurricular activities in half.
-snip-
But as public schools suffered, funding for the private yeshivas went up. Between 2010 and 2014, spending for private school buses increased from $22m to $27.3m. The school board also increased funding for special education in private schools by 33% while laying off 15 special education teachers in public schools, according to the NYSED report.
-snip-
Civil rights groups allege school board election system in East Ramapo, north-west of New York City, disenfranchises minorities
M. Saad Ejaz in New York
Thu 27 Feb 2020 11.00 GMT
Last modified on Thu 27 Feb 2020 12.29 GMT
A school board composed mostly of Orthodox Jewish parents has favored students in private religious schools over mostly black and Latino students in public schools, civil rights groups have alleged in federal court.
The groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, blame a school board election system that is common across the US and that, they say, disenfranchises minorities.
Since 2005, the East Ramapo school board, which covers a few small towns an hour’s drive north-west of New York City, has been controlled by members who represent private yeshivas, or Jewish religious schools, according to a report by the New York state education department. The vast majority of the 26,500 children who attend private schools in the district are white. In contrast, 91% of the 9,000 or so children enrolled in public schools are black and Latino.
In 2009, the board began gutting the public-school system, the report states. Between 2009 and 2014, the board fired over 450 staff, including 160 teachers, three guidance counselors and all social workers. It also cut budgets for athletic and extracurricular activities in half.
-snip-
But as public schools suffered, funding for the private yeshivas went up. Between 2010 and 2014, spending for private school buses increased from $22m to $27.3m. The school board also increased funding for special education in private schools by 33% while laying off 15 special education teachers in public schools, according to the NYSED report.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/27/school-board-east-ramapo-public-school-funding-private-yeshivas
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Ramapo Valley Rapid Transit.
