DOE Encourages Multi-Lingual Instruction in Public Schools, but Forbids It in Yeshivas

By Yehudit Garmaise

"Why can’t yeshiva students receive instructions in Hebrew and Yiddish, just as public-school kids in bilingual programs are taught in a multiplicity of different languages," Brooklyn Law School Professor Rabbi Aaron Twerski would like to know.

After launching 47 new dual-language pre-kindergarten public school programs to reach a total of 107 in 2019, Richard Carranza, who was then New York City’s schools chancellor said he wanted to “honor the hundreds of ‘home languages,’ spoken by New York City public school students.” 

At the time, City Hall hailed multilingual education “as a critical asset for city kids as they prepare to compete in an increasingly international economy,” the New York Post reported. 

NYC Department of Education (DOE) officials, who allow public school students to be taught in languages other than English, discriminate against yeshiva students by restricting instruction taught in Hebrew and Yiddish, according to Professor Twerski.

Citing the DOE’s approval of 200 “dual-language schools” offered to public school students who want to learn second languages, Twerski says restricting Hebrew and Yiddish instruction in yeshivas is “a double standard.” 

“Discrimination is taking place,” Professor Twerski tells the Post. “I don’t know whether it’s intentional or not, but that’s the result of the policy.” 

“It’s blatantly unconstitutional. If the state doesn’t voluntarily change the policy, the court will change it. 

“Not only does the state allow dual language instruction in the public schools, but the state encourages it.”

SED spokesperson Keshia Clukey, however, claimed that programs for English Language Learners (ELLs), or students who do not speak English at home, include options for dual-language instruction.

“The intent of this requirement is to ensure that every student learns the predominant language in the United States so that they become productive members of society,” said Education Commissioner Betty Rosa, who claimed that the rules on language instruction apply equally to both public and private schools. “The regulation does not exclude content taught in a language other than English.”

Top state Education Department official David Frank, however, contradicted the claims of Clukey and Rosa when he was recorded on Nov. 2 speaking with school district officials in West Nyack.

“Even in our public-school bilingual programs, we often teach Math or Science or Social Studies in languages other than English,” said Frank. “So, I assume, if we [teach in other languages than English] in our public schools, that would be comparable in our non-public schools.”

Frank went onto say requiring the core subjects to be “taught in English really pains me. I don’t think it is the educational best practice.”