Rabbi Yosef Hertz of Agudah Speaks to LNN About Supreme Court Maine Ruling in Application to NY & NJ

Rabbi Yosef Hertz the Director of Federal Education Affairs at the Agudah spoke to LNN in regard to the Supreme Court ruling Tuesday in Maine, who stated that “the full implications of the ruling will be analyzed by legal scholars over the coming weeks, and it will become clearer with time if there are potential federal sources of funding that this will have an impact on, even in New York and New Jersey; for example, UPK (Universal Pre-Kindergarten) in New York and the Naples Act in New Jersey.”

The Naples act in New Jersey is a special education law that provides that districts must offer an option in certain scenarios for students with disabilities to attend private schools. The law, however, provides that those schools may not be sectarian. One of the potential areas that will be reviewed in the upcoming weeks is whether or not that language remains constitutional under the recent ruling. The Agudah is reviewing the applicable programs and will explore these options more fully as the ruling is crystallized. 

Beyond the immediate implications, however, school choice advocates are excited about the ruling as this allows legislatures throughout the country to now enact programs that fund schools, including private schools that actively teach religion. While the ultimate decision in this regard is up to each state legislature, advocates are confident that this change in the court will have long-lasting ramifications and is a major step in the right direction, even beyond the immediate ruling.

Regarding the UPK in NY, On July 1, 2021, New York State (NYS) set a budget of $970 million for state-administered UPK programs, in 2022 the NYS added $105 million to the budget for the UPK for 4-year-old children. UPK in NY provides free early care and education for 6 hours and 20 minutes a day during the school year, typically from September to June. Extended Day and Year seats are free or low cost and provide early care and education for up to 10 hours of care a day, year-round, including the summer.

Over 50 Catholic Schools across the Archdiocese of New York have partnered with the NYC Department of Education and school districts outside NYC to provide free full-day UPK programs for three- and four-year-old children. LNN contacted the Archdiocese of New York asking if they are limited in their education of religious studies in order to receive the Government funding, their response was they are not. Yet after speaking to another of the advocates of the Agudah, LNN was told that is not so simple. As the Agudah Nj Director, Rabbi Avi Schnall stated in his video address, developments are to follow.