As the New York State legislative session came to a close at the end of last week, both the Senate and the Assembly passed legislation which would give veto power to the state appointed monitor of the East Ramapo school board. This is an approach Agudath Israel has long opposed: it overturns the will of the voters, giving the monitor the power to thwart the decisions of a democratically elected school board. In addition, this will not solve the underlying issues in the East Ramapo school district, as it does not deal with the root causes of the funding inequities fomented by a flawed state formula.
It is important to note that the rhetoric from some of those in favor of the monitor’s veto, particularly NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman, is outrageous and unbecoming. While good faith discussion and disagreement is healthy in a democracy, it is never acceptable to descend into inflammatory language. Falsely accusing the school board – consisting primarily of Orthodox Jewish members – of ‘Jim Crow’ style racial animus is especially offensive, especially given the recent rise in antisemitic hate crimes. Ms. Lieberman should apologize for those divisive remarks.
Over the last four years, the board has already made progress with the existing monitor structure, with the Commissioner of Education retaining direct oversight of the school board. It is the hope of Agudath Israel that the divisive rhetoric will end and lawmakers will find a way to address the root of the problem and represent the will of all those in East Ramapo.
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