Today, the Orthodox Union released the following statement responding to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s attempt to respond to shortcomings in his signature UPK program:
For more than a year, the Orthodox Union has made the case to City Hall that New York’s Yeshivas and Jewish day schools are—by virtue of unwarranted and arbitrary rules invented by Mayor de Blasio—unable to participate in the Mayor’s signature Universal Pre-K program.
“When we heard Mayor de Blasio would, this week, modify his rules and accommodate New York’s Jewish day school students, we were optimistic. Unfortunately, the information released by City Hall today contains only cosmetic changes to the rules and New York’s Jewish day school parents still cannot expect to enroll their children in a City-funded UPK program next September,” said Maury Litwack, OU Advocacy’s Director of State Political Affairs.