by Beth Fertig

January 28, 2015

An umbrella group for the modern Orthodox Jewish community is claiming Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration has made it too difficult for Jewish day schools to join in the city’s universal pre-kindergarten expansion.

The Orthodox Union Advocacy Center placed ads in Jewish publications this week stating that the mayor “refuses to make changes that would enable New York City’s Jewish community to fully participate in UPK.” The story was first reported in the New York Daily News.

The beef is that all community groups, including religious organizations, must provide six hours and 20 minutes daily secular instruction in order to qualify for full-day pre-k funding. Jewish schools that wanted to teach religious content would have to tack on extra hours, making the school day too long for young children.

To read the rest of this article on WNYC SchoolBook, click here.