De Blasio gets caught selling our schoolchildren yet again

Once again, Mayor Bill de Blasio stands exposed not (quite) as a crook but as a dissembling sleaze. This time, he’s been fingered for selling out schoolchildren to appease politically powerful adults.

Wednesday’s finding from the city Department of Investigation: Team de Blasio agreed back in 2017 to bury a Department of Education report on the quality of instruction in certain yeshivas — in exchange for support for his continued control of the city school system.

For years, “dissident” ultra-Orthodox led by Naftuli Moster of Young Advocates for Fair Education have pushed for the DOE to do its job under state law and ensure that all yeshivas offer a proper secular education.

Most of these private schools clearly do a fine job — but a handful refused to even allow DOE inspectors in the door, all but confirming charges that they offer nothing but religious instruction (for boys, at least) after third grade.

The DOE investigation began back in 2015; its mid-2017 report, if made public, would add to pressure for a crackdown. But then the mayor (according to the DOI report) got involved in city officials’ conversations with state Sen. Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) and ultra-Orthodox community leaders “about their broader concerns regarding oversight of yeshivas and how those concerns related to the extension of mayoral control.”

Soon came a deal to bury the report — and let Blas retain control of the school system. The mayor then (per DOI) lied, saying the yeshiva probe was proceeding when he knew it was on hold.

The issue’s still unresolved. (Sigh: The State Education Department further complicated it by using the controversy to try to justify inspections and potential added oversight of all private school curricula.)

But the main takeaway is that, yet again, the mayor’s been caught putting his own interests ahead of doing right by city schoolchildren.

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