In a 20-page filing, Bobover Yeshiva Bnei Zion, Oholei Torah, United Talmudical Academy, and Yeshiva Mesivta Arugas Habosem said reviewers refused to credit instruction from Jewish Studies and interfered in their hiring, among other objections to the process.

Yeshiva

“Taken together, these discriminatory practices would strip the Yeshivas of their essential Jewish character,” wrote Avi Schick, an attorney for the yeshivas at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. “If they can’t devote sufficient time to Jewish Studies with instruction in their original language … then they are no longer Jewish schools.”

“The Office of Civil Rights should exercise its oversight over these New York agencies that receive billions of dollars in federal funds annually by thoroughly investigating their discriminatory practices and remediating their discriminatory conduct.”

The civil rights complaint, filed a week before President-elect Trump is set to take office, takes aim at a process in state education regulations adopted in 2022, which may put religious and other private schools through a review of basic subjects, such as reading and math, to ensure they are at least “substantially equivalent” to those offered at public schools.

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights could not confirm receipt of the complaint late Monday.

A rep for the New York State Education Department said it could not comment in the suit itself but pushed back against its core claims.

“We disagree with the allegations, which constitute a challenge to State law,” said J.P. O’Hare, a spokesman. “We note that counsel for these complainants has previously unsuccessfully challenged the Board of Regents’ substantial equivalency regulations in court.”

Schick said the yeshivas are not challenging the state regulations themselves, but the alleged use of the reviews to “impose its secular views on these Jewish schools.” Private schools that are approved by an independent accreditor or have their students pass state-approved standardized tests are exempt from the review process.

Trump campaigned on “parental rights” to make decisions about their children’s education and a crackdown on allegations of antisemitism in schools.

In a statement released after the filing, Jewish advocates for yeshiva reform accused the four schools taking their action to a forum more likely to provide a favorable judgment, while a lawsuit is pending in New York’s highest court. The group, Young Advocates for Fair Education, has long accused some yeshivas of failing to prepare its graduates to fully participate in life outside of the Hasidic community if they so choose.

“Today’s federal civil rights complaint filed against the New York State and City Education Departments is nothing more than a desperate and cynical attempt at court shopping,” said Adina Mermelstein Konikoff, executive director of Young Advocates for Fair Education.

“The grievances outlined in this complaint have already been dismissed repeatedly in state court, and this latest maneuver reeks of bad faith.”

“Let’s be clear: this is not about protecting civil rights — it’s about shielding institutions from accountability while tens of thousands of children are denied a basic education,” she continued. “Teaching English, math, science, and social studies does not contradict Jewish values; it complements them.”

The specifics of her plan will be unveiled later this month, and will likely be ironed out during negotiations with state lawmakers, according to a press release from the governor’s office.

“We got to talk about cellphones in schools,” Hochul said at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York. “We won’t do that today, because it will make me very unpopular, I’m sure. But I did enough round tables with teenagers in schools, even around here.”

“One young woman said, ‘You got to save us from ourselves. We can’t put it down because we’re afraid we’re going to miss something. Someone could be getting together in the girls room right now and I can’t miss it, or they’re going to be talking about a party. They’re going to be talking about what I’m wearing. They’re mocking me out and bullying me.'”

The governor had been teasing limits on the devices since last spring, when former Chancellor David Banks was exploring a ban in New York City public schools, the state’s largest district. But Mayor Adams at the eleventh hour put the kibosh on those plans for this school year.

As part of the state budget, any restrictions will require approval by the Legislature, as opposed to an executive order by the governor. Hochul has repeatedly said cutting back on cellphone-use is necessary to combat youth mental health issues coming out of the pandemic.

“There’s so much pressure on all of you, and I’ve got to help you with that,” Hochul said. “That’s my job.”

Banks, who was pushed out by Mayor Adams in October after his phone was seized by federal investigators, has continued to advocate for school cellphone restrictions in his retirement. Earlier this month, he shared an op-ed in the Daily News on at least two social media platforms, renewing his call for a ban and distancing himself from Adams’ decision “to take more time to consider” it.

His successor, Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos, collected student cellphones when she was a principal in the Bronx. But the schools head, who previously served as Banks’ chief of staff and one of his deputies, has aligned herself with Adams during TV and radio appearances since the state legislative session kicked off last week.

“The mayor and I are in lockstep on this,” Aviles-Ramos said Sunday on CBS News New York’s The Point with Marcia Kramer. “It’s not that we don’t agree with cellphones not being in classrooms. We absolutely, absolutely don’t think they should be in classrooms, but we want to make sure is that that journey from great idea to implementation is a solid one.”

Aviles-Ramos also cast doubt on a cellphone policy as a cure-all for youth mental health: “It’s kind of like giving someone with chronic migraines an Advil every single day. At what point don’t you say, ‘Well, why do they have chronic migraines?’ We need to get to the root of the problem.”

New York City parents were divided Monday on whether they think schools should collect phones for the entirety of the school day.

“I just think that phones have taken over the lives of teenagers,” said a mom at Beacon High School in Hell’s Kitchen, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “They want to be on them 24/7. Their lives have become consumed by these devices.”

Beacon allows students to use their cellphones during free periods and lunch. Her child previously attended a school where phones were banned for all school hours, which she said she preferred.

“You as a parent try the best you can, but school is school. It shouldn’t be about looking at Instagram.”

Rima Izquierdo, a Bronx mom with three children in public schools, was in high school when 9/11 happened. She worries not only about that level of an emergency, but also about day-to-day incidents where phones allow kids to connect with parents or hold the school accountable, specifically for students with disabilities like her own.

Plus, she shares Chancellor Aviles-Ramos’ suspicions that a ban is a silver bullet for young people’s well-being.

“We talk a lot about IQ, but there’s a lot to be said about ‘EQ,’ emotional intelligence, and preparing students for the use of phones,” Izquierdo said. “They have access to their phones right before school and right after school. I just think it’s a Band-Aid, and we should focus on what changed with students and cellphones and the pandemic.”

In December, Gov. Hochul and state lawmakers reached a deal to block adoptive parents from collecting checks on behalf of kids no longer in their care, including those forced back into the foster system. Final details of the law were ironed out this week as the Legislature reconvened for the 2025 session.

“This bill makes critical changes that will support families that participate in the adoption process,” Hochul wrote in a Dec. 21 memo. “However, changes were necessary to ensure funds are directed to parents who are appropriately caring for their child, and exclude individuals in situations of abuse or neglect.”

“I am pleased to have reached an agreement with the Legislature to enact these changes. On the basis of this agreement, I am pleased to sign this bill.”

For at least a decade, adopted children and their advocates warned payments were set up in such a way that parents could collect thousands of dollars each month for children with disabilities or otherwise considered “hard to place” — even after they were returned to foster care or taken in by another family.

In some cases, young people were forced to go out on their own or wound up in homeless shelters, including Essence Flowers, who last year told the Daily News about the struggle to rebuild her life after she was forced out of her adoptive home.

In New York City alone, at least $3.5 million in adoption subsidies were sent to families no longer eligible for the support, a 2021 comptroller audit found.

But reforms took time. Lawmakers had to narrowly craft the bill to avoid creating incentives for adopted teens to leave home or jeopardizing part of the adoption subsidy funded with federal money.

As part of the deal reached between Hochul and the Legislature, some parts of the law remain on pause until they receive federal approval. Changes resulting from that agreement will be passed as a chapter amendment this session.

At the end of last year, there were 6,559 families in New York City receiving subsidies on behalf of more than 10,000 adopted children, according to the Administration for Children’s Services. Forty-four children were back in foster care after previously being adopted.

Monthly checks start at more than $1,000 per month in the city and can exceed $3,000 for disabled and “hard to place” children, according to the latest rates.

Advocates cheered the law’s passage after a protracted campaign that could be traced back to at least 2014.

“It’s been a long-time coming,” said Betsy Kramer, the director of policy and special litigation at Lawyers for Children. “And it’s long overdue, and will bring great relief to many children and to the people who step into care for children when their adoptive parents are no longer providing any support.”

“There are too many young people who aren’t being supported by their adoptive parents, and that money can make the difference for them between having a stable, safe place to live and being homeless.”

Chantal, 39, gave birth under a year and a half ago to her son, raising him in East Flatbush about a mile from where she grew up. She joined local parent groups on WhatsApp, the instant messaging service, and noticed a trend: Many families were waiting until their kids turned 3 to avoid doubling up on child care fees.

Currently, New York City offers pre-K programs for most, if not all families with children ages 3 and 4 who want it. Over the last week alone, both Mayor Adams and Gov. Hochul have laid out sweeping plans to make New York more family-friendly. On Thursday, Adams gave his 2025 State of the City address: “Make New York City Best Place to Raise a Family.”

But affordable child care may be out of reach for the Hinds, whose son will be 2 over the summer. The city’s average cost for full-time child care at that age is $23,400 each year, according to New Yorkers United for Child Care, an advocacy group.

“Having access to free care for him when he turns 2 really impacts our family planning,” Chantal said. “We’re pretty sure we want to have another kid. I don’t want to have another kid at 45. So we’re trying to figure out when is the time that we want to do it, and a lot of that is dependent on if we can avoid a daycare overlap.”

Facing an affordability crisis across the five boroughs, the Hinds and more than 100 other parents are banding together to push for “Universal 2-Care,” a public program modeled after universal pre-K and 3-K for the families of 2-year-olds.

“I did not envision that there could be a possibility that I couldn’t raise my family here,” said Chantal. “But the older I’ve gotten, the more I realized that it’s hard. This is not the same Brooklyn it was when my family was on a single family income, and my mom was home with me until I was 3. That doesn’t exist anymore.”

On Sunday, the group will kick off their campaign with a “stroller brigade” at City Hall, where parents led by New Yorkers United for Child Care and United Neighborhood Houses will call on Adams to help make daycare more affordable and accessible — open for all work hours and within 15 minutes of home.

“I hear all the time from parents in NYC that if we can just hang on to 3-K, then we can stay in New York. We can stay in our apartment,” said Rebecca Bailin, executive director of New Yorkers United for Child Care. “That ‘hanging on’ can be quite difficult for many people, many families. That’s why we’re launching our campaign to say: ‘It’s time for 2s.'”

At full scale, Universal 2-Care would serve 60,000 toddlers for $1.3 billion each year from the city budget, though Bailin predicted it would pay for itself over time by keeping families in New York to grow the tax base, parents in the workforce, and young children on track to build a strong future economy. Bailin’s ultimate goal is for universal child care to expand statewide.

Advocates have reason to believe that may be a possibility, though not imminently. On Tuesday, Hochul, who is up for re-election next year and likely to face a competitive primary, announced a task force of business interests, service providers and tax experts to “move toward, ultimately, universal child care” at a daycare center in Bushwick.

Adams during his annual speech on Thursday did not mention universal child care but touted his record — from offering all on-time applicants a 3-K seat by the fall, to slashing child care copays for the city’s lowest-income families from $55 to $5 per week.

“New York City is already a great place to raise a family, but as every parent knows, it’s not always easy,” Adams said at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. “These are big savings for hardworking families.”

Asked by the Daily News where Mayor Adams stands on universal child care, City Hall did not return a request for comment. A rep for the city’s public schools, controlled by Adams, stressed “the urgent need to invest in our youngest learners, supporting their development and easing financial burdens on families, as well as state funding streams to accomplish scale.”

That doesn’t help Stephanie Park, 38, who is still paying $29,700 annually on her 1-year-old daughter’s daycare, run out of the ground floor of a brownstone in Park Slope. The program shutters for the month of August, when Park needs to open her wallet again to keep her daughter busy.

“It was kind of a crazy, rude awakening once I started looking at daycare options,” Park said. “And, you know, like, I’m not going for fancy programs.”

“I love how New York City is an incredibly diverse city. I don’t want to raise my kids in the city that’s been hollowed out because most people can’t afford to live here. That to me is not an interesting place to live and raise my kids.”

In October, the city’s Education Department announced a new program that lets principals champion their own class-size reduction proposals in exchange for more funding. More than 750 sites applied by the citywide deadline on Dec. 20, according to the United Federation of Teachers.

By fall 2028, any classroom without an exemption will be limited to between 20 and 25 students, depending on their grade level. So far, education officials have been able to avoid major policy changes while phasing in the law, which was passed after student enrollment dropped during the pandemic.

That’s likely to change by September when, under the law, 60% of classrooms will need to adhere to the caps. So far, fewer than 47% of classes fall below the limits, according to the latest report.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew in an interview with the Daily News was optimistic that the school-driven program will help the city comply with the caps.

“It’s been very successful at this point, more than any of us thought it would be,” Mulgrew said. “It’s over 700 schools [that] have applied, which would make that the third-largest school district in the United States.”

PS 15 ROBERTO CLEMENTE SCHOOL

A public schools spokesperson declined to share an official tally, citing an ongoing review process. As part of the program, a joint committee of department officials and representatives for the teacher and principal unions will consider the funding requests. Schools will learn if they were approved for the program by this spring.

Some themes emerged from the applications, according to Mulgrew. Many schools, for example, suggested phasing in the caps by grade level, and then determined how many staff they would need to execute their plans.

“We’re optimistic that these schools will get the money they need,” the teachers union boss said. “It’s really people being very intentional with their plan about, ‘Listen, this is what we know we can do. This is why we want to do it.'”

While dramatic declines have leveled off, public school enrollment remains 98,500 students fewer than before the pandemic. As it stands, hundreds of schools have enough space in their current buildings to meet the class-size caps, but a large share still do not.

The number of schools applying for the class-size funding offers an early indication of how impactful the program will be. But many questions remain, including how many applications will get funding or the total budget for the new initiative.

“The exact level of resources committed will depend on budget availability based on appropriations from both the state and the city, as well as the size of needs identified by schools through this school-driven program,” the report states.

There is no cap on the number of schools that, if approved, can receive funding through the program, the schools spokesperson confirmed. Reviewers will consider each individual school’s plan and needs to determine funding on a case-by-case basis.

Mulgrew credited the idea to Tracy Ivanic, a science teacher at P.S. 153 in Queens, where class sizes can reach up to 31 children — despite five classrooms there sitting empty.

Ivanic, who’s worked in the city’s public schools for 28 years, said the city should prioritize schools like hers for the funding.

“The money was given to schools last year that didn’t have the space to do it, or didn’t really want to do it right now,” Ivanic said.

“That lit the fire under my behind,” she added, “and I was, like, well, then you should have an application and give it to the people who want to do it — because we want to do it, and we have empty classrooms in our school. So why not put the money where the money can be used right away?”

Starting early next week, parents can apply for a seat on one of the 36 local and citywide education panels. Elected by fellow public school families for two-year terms, members approve school zoning lines, advise local district superintendents and hold public meetings.

“If you’ve never held a parent leadership role before, now is always a great time to start,” Aviles-Ramos said at a launch event for the upcoming elections in lower Manhattan.

It’s not unusual for education debates to get heated. But as parents clashed last school year over the Israel-Hamas War and transgender girls in school sports, former Chancellor David Banks ousted two parents from their councils, saying they were “unfit to serve in these roles.”

Manhattan board member Maud Maron sued in federal court and was reinstated to Community Education Council 2. Both she and Tajh Sutton, who did not get her seat back on Community Education Council 14 in Brooklyn, are eligible to run again, the chancellor’s deputy tasked with overseeing the elections confirmed Wednesday.

Sutton declined to share her plans for the coming election. Maron, who is running for Manhattan district attorney, did not return a request for comment.

At the event, Aviles-Ramos advised parents not to let the events of last year deter them from getting involved.

“We know that we need to very much support our families who are volunteering their time and being a part of these organizations,” the chancellor said at Education Department headquarters.

Her message to applicants was, “It’s OK to disagree, but then how do we disagree and still move an agenda forward?”

The launch of the process follows growing criticism from parents and local politicians over the handling of the elections, which are often low turnout and have been growing increasingly contentious. The families of just 28,000 public school students voted during last election cycle.

In November, Comptroller Brad Lander released an audit of the last cycle that called on the public schools to strengthen a real-time complaint process during election season and develop clear guardrails to keep outside forces from influencing the results.

Aviles-Ramos would not comment on the audit and whether she would adopt any of its recommendations, with her spokesman referring the Daily News back to a statement from the fall that the report’s findings were under review.

Parents who want to run can submit applications online through Feb. 16 and will have a little more than a month for candidate forums and to continue campaigning. In addition to 32 geographic education councils, there are four citywide councils on high schools, English Language Learners, special education and District 75 for students with intensive needs.

Voting is open from April 25 to May 13, with election results announced in June for the next school year.

It was not immediately clear when the network outage began. An alert was posted at 7:16 a.m. to the school system’s “SupportHub” website.

“Approximately 100 schools in Brooklyn and Queens are currently experiencing network connectivity issues due to an internet service provider outage,” Jenna Lyle, a spokeswoman for the public schools, said in a statement shortly after school dismissal. “The internet provider is working to resolve the issue.”

“In the meantime, any impacted classes that planned on utilizing the internet in-school today moved to non-tech-based learning to educate students.”

In a post on X, the United Federation of Teachers estimated closer to 200 schools were impacted by the outage.

“Service will hopefully be back by the day’s end,” the post read.

All impacted schools use the same internet provider, the schools spokeswoman confirmed. The outage was unrelated to the half-inch or less of snow that fell Monday morning, which largely spared the New York metro area while wreaking havoc elsewhere in the country.

The plan, one of several the governor plans to set forth during her annual State of the State address next week, would give eligible households with children under the age of 4 a $1,000 credit for the 2025 tax year, and those with children between ages 4 and 16 a $500 credit the following year.

Currently, the state’s child tax credit provides up to $330 per child.

“Raising a family is harder than it’s ever been before,” said Hochul at Vanderbilt YMCA in Midtown East. “Everything is up.”

“I want to support families, especially in those earliest years when you’re not getting enough sleep at night. I know that. You’re stressed out. But family by family, child by child, community by community, we will make this place better and more livable and more affordable.”

The benefit would be expanded to families earning up to $200,000 or more, according to a press release. It’s expected to reach 1.2 million children in New York City alone.

According to governor’s office estimates, the program could reduce child poverty statewide by 8.2% when fully implemented.

Hochul’s plan is one of several competing proposals on the state and federal levels.

In a statement following Hochul’s announcement, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes plugged his own “Working Families Tax Credit,” which would raise the maximum tax credit to $1,600 per child and pin the credit to inflation as quarterly payments, as the best way to reduce child poverty and support parents.

The announcement comes as the issue of affordability has taken front and center for New York politicians in the aftermath of the presidential election. For her first press conference of the year, Hochul — who is expected to face formidable challengers during the gubernatorial race next year — touted a series of new policies taking effect to “put money back into the pockets of New Yorkers.”

Hochul is scheduled to deliver the 2025 State of the State speech on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at Hart Theater at The Egg in Albany.

The teen was outside Dr. Susan S. McKinney Secondary School, which serves grades seven through 12 in Fort Greene, when he was approached by a man asking if he was a specific individual, according to the sources.

The student denied being that person but was shot in the stomach anyway at N. Oxford St. and Park Ave. at about 8:25 a.m., the sources said.

The victim ran across the street into the school and collapsed at the safety agent’s desk. Reps for the school system did not immediately confirm if the victim attends McKinney.

Cops described the shooter as a teen in a black jacket who fled on N. Oxford St. The victim was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Brooklyn Methodist in stable condition, sources said.

“While this incident took place off campus, this display of gun violence is deeply concerning,” said Jenna Lyle, a spokeswoman for the public schools. “We are grateful to our dedicated school staff and NYPD school safety agents who provided critical support to this young person.”

“Additional supports are being directed to the school, including school social workers, as well as support for the school community via Project Pivot,” Mayor Adams’ signature anti-violence initiative in public schools,” she said.

Students and teachers briefly sheltered within the building, according to school officials.

“We heard it, but we were working so we didn’t see anything,” said a worker near the scene, who declined to give his name. “I heard one shot. I wasn’t 100% sure, but it sounded like it could’ve possibly have been a gunshot.”

The incident occurred just hours after 10 young people were wounded in a mass shooting outside a Queens nightclub on Wednesday night.

Cornell University, The New School and the University of Rochester are among the schools in the Empire State set to kick off the spring semester in the days immediately following Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. In recent weeks, because of concerns over the incoming administration, all three universities have alerted students to possible consequences of waiting until the first days of classes to travel back to the United States.

“A travel ban is likely to go into effect soon after the inauguration. The ban is likely to include citizens of the countries targeted in the first Trump administration,” Cornell’s Office of Global Learning told students. “It is a good idea for international students, faculty and staff from the above countries to be back in the U.S. in advance of the semester.”

Cornell included on its list 13 countries that were previously subject to travel bans, plus predicted others, including China and India, that could soon be added. International students from 131 countries make up 26% of Cornell’s student body, according to university data.

Exactly how the new presidential administration will enact travel restrictions remains to be seen. On the campaign trail, Trump said he could reestablish travel bans and even extend them to more countries. During his last administration, the president-elect restricted entry from several predominantly Muslim countries that left some international students stranded and prompted hundreds of college presidents to sign an open letter against the ban.

Amid last year’s pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations, Trump also floated the idea of revoking the visas of student protesters, whom he described as “radical anti-American and antisemitic foreigners.”

Toward the end of the previous semester, The New School recommended that international students “strongly consider returning to the United States prior to the start of classes, which coincides with the presidential Inauguration Day of Jan. 20, 2025.”

The New School, based in Greenwich Village near Union Square, enrolls more than 3,500 international students and researchers from upward of 100 countries, university data show. While the new head of the university stopped short of predicting what next year will hold, he said his team is getting ready.

“Given what is currently known, it is reasonable to prepare for the possibility that the incoming administration will seek to implement immigration policy that may well target people from specific countries or undocumented members of our community,” Joel Towers, who became president of The New School this fall, told students.

“If that is the case, we will respond, as we have in the past, to threats to our international and undocumented students, with access to support and resources, collective advocacy to oppose actions that threaten higher education, and programming to help our community stay abreast of the issues.”

New York University hosted more than 27,200 international students last school year, according to a new report. But NYU, also located in Greenwich Village, where Donald Trump’s son Barron is a freshman, did not respond to questions from the Daily News over the past week.

Other New York colleges have encouraged international students to return early, though their communications did not explicitly reference the presidential transition. Those included some SUNY campuses, collectively serving some 20,300 international students, including the University at Buffalo and Binghamton University.

At Columbia University, which resumes classes for the spring semester the day after the inauguration, two senior officials sent a yearly email encouraging “international travelers to return to Columbia’s campus in advance of this semester’s start date to avoid any potential travel delays.” The university, based in Morningside Heights, is home to more than 23,200 international students from 162 countries.

According to college newspaper the Columbia Daily Spectator, at a meeting last week with faculty, staff and students, President Katrina Armstrong said the university is forming at least 13 working groups to respond to “challenges” that could arise under Trump, including one related to international students.