As reported by JTA, the New York Board of Regents yesterday approved the Final Substantial Equivalency Regulation (full text) (summary) which implements NY Education Law §3204(2) requiring instruction in nonpublic schools to be at least "substantially equivalent" to that in public schools in the same city or district. Originally proposed in March (see prior posting), the Regulation provides multiple pathways for private and religious schools to demonstrate compliance. The Regulation garnered increased attention after the New York Times on Sunday published a lengthy article setting out the findings of its study of the inadequacies of secular instruction in a number of Hasidic Jewish schools. (It also posted the article in Yiddish on its website.) The Forward also has background on the new rule.
