NYS Department of Education Outlines New Plan To Regulate Private Schools

by CrownHeights.info

The New York State Department of Education waded back into a fight with the release of proposed plans to regulate private schools across the state.

The regulations, required by law, were originally published in 2019, but the backlash was such that the proposal was retracted. Following multiple delays due to COVID-19, the updated proposal is now ready.

Under the new proposed regulations, private and parochial schools would have six ways to prove they are offering education that is “substantially equivalent” to what is available in public schools, otherwise, local school districts would remain responsible for assessing the instruction provided in those schools.

The six methods are:

-Participating in the international baccalaureate program.
-Regularly using SED-approved assessments that can be used to demonstrate student academic progress.
-Earning accreditation from an organization that is SED-approved.
-Being part of a school program that includes a high school registered by the Board of Regents; grades 1 through 8 of a nonpublic school that has a registered high school program will also be deemed substantially equivalent by virtue of the school’s high school registration.
-Being classified as an approved Private Special Education School (‘853’), State-Operated, or a State-Supported School (‘4201’).
-Delivering instruction approved by the United States government on a military base or service academy.

From the fall of 2020 to the present, the Department of Education has held more than twenty meetings with representatives of stakeholder groups which included superintendents, Amish schools, local Orthodox Jewish groups, Young Advocates for Fair Education (YAFFED), Parents for Educational and Religious Liberty in Schools (PEARLS), and the Commissioner’s Advisory Council for Religious and Independent Schools.

The proposed regulations will be presented to the Board of Regents at its March meeting and are scheduled to be published in the state register on March 30 and public comment will be accepted until May 30, 2022, according to the State Education Department.