By: Benjamin Kaplanowitz
Department of Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia has unexpectedly resigned.
Elia drew criticism after she re-released regs that would have given New York State control over the number of hours of secular studies taught at private schools statewide. The regs also mandated curriculum requirements.
“Elia’s latest effort to exercise state control over private schools statewide sparked a flurry of activity. By state law, the guidelines mandated by Elia are subject to a public comment period,” reported Vos Iz Neias. “A campaign launched by PEARLS giving yeshiva parents a chance to voice their opposition to the plan resulted in 4,862 letters of protest, representing 14,100 yeshiva students, in just over one week.”
Torah Vodaath Rosh Hayeshiva Rabbi Yisroel Reisman has reportedly called for a letter-writing campaign targeting his school’s parents, grandparents, friends and alumni.
Reisman and Mir Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Elya Brudny “met with Commissioner Elia last year hoping to demonstrate that the vast majority of yeshivas were providing students with a substantially equivalent education to that offered in the public schools, as required by state law,” said the Jewish news site. “The two penned a letter to the editor that appeared in the Wall Street Journal… last December warning that New York’s yeshivas would not allow the state to make any curriculum changes that would in any way interfere with their emphasis on offering a Torah-true education.”
Published reports claimed that Elia resigned in order to take a position with a national company specializing in helping school districts draft and execute turnaround strategies. She had apparently failed to tell the board of her plan to resign before the news became public knowledge.
According to chalkbeat.org, Chancellor Betty Rosa “said the announcement “obviously caught us all off guard” but declined to comment further before walking into back-to-back board trainings, which are closed to the public and are a typical July agenda item for the Regents. Regent James E. Cottrell said the news came as a “total shock” and upset him. He said he thought the board had made positive strides under Elia’s four-year leadership.”
In an official statement, the board members “said they have made “much progress” with Elia to improve education and described Elia as “steadfast in her commitment to placing the interests of students first,” chalkbeat.org reported.
The letter drafted by Elia said in part that “our goal to close the opportunity gap in all districts across the state… Going forward, I hope to translate the experiences I’ve gained from one of the largest, most complex education systems in the country into lessons to help improve classrooms, schools and districts for students in every state.”
