Total submissions:
1,320
To submit your letter, please copy the text below into an email, add your name, and send it to [email protected], by 11:59 PM EDT on 5/31/22.
Ms. Christina Coughlin
89 Washington Ave., EBA Room 1078
SORIS, SE Regulation Comments
Albany, NY 12234
[email protected]
Accountants Opposing the Proposed Addition of Part 130 to Title 8 NYCRR (Rule ID# EDU-13-22-00025-P) to Strictly Regulate Private Schools
We, the undersigned, are accounting professionals who are proud graduates of the Orthodox Jewish yeshiva system. We are writing to share our positive collective experience as yeshiva graduates and oppose the State Education Department’s proposed regulations on yeshivas and all private schools.
Our yeshiva education afforded us the foundation to successfully complete the required higher education coursework and achieve professional success in our careers. Many of us hold additional advanced degrees and professional designations, as well.
We attest that the professional success we attained is attributable to the foundational lessons we received in yeshiva elementary and high school. In addition to our secular studies education, our yeshiva experience honed our critical thinking, deductive reasoning, and problem-solving skills that are the hallmark of Jewish Studies, and which have proven invaluable in our subsequent careers. Moreover, from a young age, we learned to work diligently, manage our time carefully, and juggle multiple obligations – all essential items in our profession. Finally, the discipline and accountability that were expected of us by our Judaic and secular studies teachers were integral, formative lessons.
As accountants, CPAs in firms large and small, or at the financial helm of institutions, our jobs invest within us significant financial responsibility. Our work is relied upon by federal and state governments, public corporations, private businesses, and entrepreneurs. Our yeshiva curriculum inculcated within us, constantly, the mantra that everything we do must conform to the highest standards of ethics, honesty, and honor. Moreover, we were taught to serve others, whenever and however possible, and to do so with a positive attitude. These are values that we bring with us into our professional lives.
The proposed regulations empower local school boards to decide whether a particular yeshiva’s education meets the curricular standards of the public schools, effectively enabling the local school board to be the final arbiter of our schools. Furthermore, the regulations do not ascribe any value to the Jewish studies that are the central and defining feature of yeshiva education, and that were directly responsible for our professional achievements, as well as the success of tens of thousands of other yeshiva graduates in every profession of their choosing.
As we review these regulations, we ask a simple question: Why? Why tamper with the successful system that we have built? Why ignore the curriculum that is the engine driving the achievements of so many yeshiva graduates? Why try to dilute the unique nature of yeshiva education? If our parents had wanted public school education for us, and if we would desire a public-school education for our children, we could have chosen the public school system. As a society that so cherishes free choice, why is the state seeking to deprive us of our ability to choose the path we strongly believe is the best one for our children?
As professional accountants, many of us in major public accounting firms, we provide services to thousands of diverse clients, including large corporations, leading entrepreneurs and businesspeople. They do not complain about our education or proficiency. To the contrary, a yeshiva background is a positive credential, immediately signaling stellar values, work habits, and critical thinking.
We respectfully request that the State Education Department seriously reconsider this regulatory attempt. We implore you to let yeshiva education continue unabated; let its graduates continue to thrive.
Sincerely,