First of all, the “Cliff Notes” version.
Basically the Orthodox Jews that control this New York school district are using the public money as a private slush fund for their own kids who attend private yeshiva schools.
The NAACP is suing to try to change school board elections from “at large” to ward based.
There are just so many things wrong in East Ramapo. An electoral method that caters to Orthodox Jews and shuts out black and Latino voters. A cabal of Orthodox Jewish School Board members who are more interested in feeding the private yeshivas than in bringing the public schools up to even a tolerable level. Closing a public school and trying to sell it to be a yeshiva at half its appraised value. Even when the State of New York intervened, it still was sold well under its appraised value to be used as a private yeshiva. Oh, and all of the Orthodox Jewish School Board members own kids attend private yeshiva.
Meanwhile, while the Jewish kids are attending yeshivas funded by public money, the black and Latino kids are attending public schools that are literally falling apart from neglect.
Unfortunately, even if the NAACP wins this lawsuit and forces ward elections, they still won’t be able to break the Orthodox Jewish majority on the school board.
The State of New York needs to step in and realign school districts in such a way as to break the Orthodox Jewish majority. Maybe consolidate East Ramapo with another school district. Or at least realign some schools into East Ramapo so that the next elections will result in a non Orthodox Jewish majority which could vote to cut off the gravy train to the private yeshivas and redirect public money to public schools.
In the long run, the States need to do more, such as making this sort of thing illegal.
But this makes me all the more determined to cut off public funding to private schools in ANY form. This may be the extreme example, but it shows that you cannot let people who are disinterested in the public schools have control of those same schools. In the end, the private schools benefit and the public schools are raped.
As for the NAACP’s lawsuit. I support it, but it won’t do any good as it will not result in the Orthodox Jewish majority on the school board being broken. Only district realignment or consolidation will do that.