Two Yeshivas Under Investigation Receive An Additional $600,000 in Taxpayer Funds

NEW YORK, NY (08/20/2018) (readMedia)-- Last week, the NYC Department of Education (DOE) finally provided an update to the public regarding the investigation started three years ago into 39 yeshivas accused of violating state law by not providing an adequate secular education.

Common Cause/NY discovered that at least two of those 39 schools, Yeshivath Kehilath Yakov and United Talmudical Academy of Boro Park, were found to have received additional, substantial public support through City Council discretionary funds. While yeshivas are considered private schools, they do receive public funds for a variety of education-related expenses including school meals, special education services, transportation, and textbooks. This analysis does not address funding from sources other than City Council discretionary funds.

"New York City taxpayers are subsidizing Yeshivas that are closing their doors to the Department of Education and ignoring New York's education standards. It's disheartening to hear the Mayor, who has rhetorically championed improving all schools, shrug off their willful opacity and systemic poor performance. The city must release the full results of the investigation into Yeshivas -- New Yorkers deserve to know how their money is spent. It's been three years too long," said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY.

Since 2009, Yeshivath Kehilath Yakov and United Talmudical Academy of Boro Park have received $626,500 in city council member items. The United Talmudical Academy of Boro Park denied DOE officials access to their school, while Yeshivath Kehilath Yakov complied.

2009-2019: City Council Discretionary Funding for Yeshivas

United Talmudical Academy of Boro Park: $82,500

Yeshivath Kehilath Yakov: $544,000

United Talmudical Academy of Boro Park

The United Talmudical Academy of Boro Park has reliably received annual awards between $7,000-$15,000 in discretionary funds from city council members. The funds are purportedly earmarked for after-school programs for "low income families, youth, and ESL youth." Since 2011, the United Talmudical Academy of Boro Park has received $82,500 in member items.

Yeshivath Kehilath Yakov

Yeshivath Kehilath Yakov has received substantially more money, nearly $550k in the last decade. Since 2009, Yeshivath Kehilath Yakov has specifically received $192,000 for remedial education funds, roughly 35% of total discretionary awards.

Background:

The DOE determined that nine of the thirty-nine schools were outside the scope of the DOE's oversight. For the remaining thirty schools, only half complied with the DOE's regulatory right to visit and asses these schools. The other half were noncompliant, which is in flagrant violation of state law.

As part of last week's update, the DOE released the names of yeshivas under investigation. Further research indicates there are at least 10,071 students enrolled in these schools. Half of the yeshivas under investigation had verifiable enrollment numbers through the New York State Education Department. The other half could not be accounted for.