A majority of the City Council opposes a state Education Department bid to boost their control over private and religious schools, The Post has learned.
The state’s proposal would tighten governmental authority over basic school functions ranging from curricular content to hiring practices.
“We write now to reiterate our displeasure with the State Education Department’s continued desire to upend the relationship between the state and nonpublic schools that has existed since 1894,” according to the Sept. 25 letter.
Thirty of the council’s 51 members signed on, a coalition that includes leading liberals like Ydanis Rodriguez (D-Manhattan) and Laurie Cumbo (D-Brooklyn).
The letter follows the roiling battle over operations at Jewish yeshivas, where critics claim secular education is routinely neglected in favor of religious immersion.
But the specter of a state incursion into largely autonomous schools has sparked an intense backlash, uniting operators of schools ranging from elite Manhattan private schools to Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious institutions.
“New York nonpublic schools have had immeasurable success in educating their students and preparing them for life,” the letter argues. “We urge you to reconsider these proposed guidelines.”
The state’s proposal would compel local public school boards to monitor and vet most private and parochial schools in their surrounding area.
It would mandate that a specific set of courses be taught in all elementary schools and would set a minimum amount of classroom time dedicated to certain subjects.
Those deemed non-compliant would be subject to punishment including the suspension of funding and closure.
Yeshiva reform groups contended that many Jewish religious schools — particularly in Brooklyn — fail to provide their students with instruction in basic academic courses, leaving graduates ill-equipped to navigate the outside world upon graduation.
They also assert that institutions receiving public funding should provide basic secular instruction along with religious content.
But yeshiva backers counter that parents have a right to prioritize religion for their children and argue the schools have produced a wide array of successful graduates.
Secular private schools have also pushed back fiercely on the state’s plan, arguing that parents seek them out for the independence that the state would potentially curtail.