A, B, C, 1, 2, 3: How an amendment to the New York State education law will give private school students an equitable education to public school students

• Published date: 01 October 2022
• Author: Elizabeth M. Guariglia
• Date: 01 October 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12680

STUDENT NOTES

A, B, C, 1, 2, 3: How an amendment to the

New York State education law will give private

school students an equitable education to public

school students

Elizabeth M. Guariglia

Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra

University, Hempstead, New York, USA

Correspondence

Elizabeth M. Guariglia, Maurice A. Deane

School of Law at Hofstra University,

121 Hofstra University, Hempstead,

NY 11549, USA.

Email: eguariglia1@pride.hofstra.edu

Abstract

In 2018,in his lawsuit against Governor Andrew Como,Naftuli

Moster alerted the world to the inequality between public and

private education in New York State. This Note proposes

amending the Felder Amendment to ensure that private school

students in New York State are given a “substantially equiva-

lent”education to those students in public schools. By making

the Felder Amendment more specific in the guidelines it uses

to assess the quality of the private schools,New York State

can ensure that all children are being given an equitable

education.

KEYWORDS

compulsory education; education; education reform;

establishment clause; Felder amendment; free exercise clause;

freedom of religion; Naftuli Moster; New York education; New

York schools; private schools; public schools; substantially

equivalent; young advocates for fair education, Department of

Education

Key points for the family court community

•In New York State there are 719 public schools with

4,910,522 students enrolled in 2020–2021 school year,

grades K-12. There are 1761 private schools in NYS

grades K-12 with 419,288 total students.

•Nassau County public schools averaged 62% proficiency

on the fourth grade ELA test in 2019. Jewish schools in

DOI: 10.1111/fcre.12680

© 2022 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.

870 Family Court Rev. 2022;60:870–884.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fcre