Dept. Of Education Sued Over BK Yeshiva Investigation: Report

BROOKLYN, NY — A local news outlet has sued the city's Department of Education after attempts to keep the results of its investigation into Jewish religious schools in Brooklyn under wraps.

THE CITY, a nonprofit news organization, announced this week that they have filed a lawsuit against the DOE for refusing to provide documents related to the city's years-long investigation into Brooklyn yeshivas.

The lawsuit comes after multiple attempts by the outlet to get copies of letters sent to 26 schools that were found to have less-than substantial instruction, according to the outlet. City officials have claimed they cannot release the letters because the investigation is ongoing.

“The public has a right to know whether students are getting the education they deserve under the law,” said Jere Hester, THE CITY’s editor in chief. “The city Department of Education’s excuse that the investigation is ongoing after nearly six years fails the smell test.”

The Department of Education first launched its investigation into 28 Brooklyn yeshivas in 2015, when former students and advocates claimed that there was "little to no instruction in subjects such as English and math" at the Orthodox schools, according to THE CITY.

Years later, after struggling to get inside many of the schools, the DOE revealed that only two of the yeshivas could prove that they provided the stand-mandated "substantially equivalent" instruction to public schools. They sent letters, including details about their findings, to all 28 schools.

THE CITY requested copies of the letters under the state’s Freedom of Information Law, but has so far only received letters sent to the schools where instruction was deemed substantially equivalent.

The DOE has said releasing the other 26 letters would interfere with the "ongoing" probe.

“All students deserve a high-quality education, and a request for records was denied in accordance with provisions in the Freedom of Information Law to prevent interference with an ongoing investigation,” DOE spokesperson Danielle Filson maintained in response to the lawsuit. “Our ultimate goal is to ensure children attending nonpublic schools are receiving substantially equivalent instruction, as required by law, and the disclosure of the letters prior to the investigation’s completion would impede this process.”

Read the full report in THE CITY here.