Dishonest New York Times’ Series Does Not Deserve a Pulitzer
3rd May 2023
Following an 18-part investigative series in The New York Times alleging various forms of maleducation and malfeasance in New York City yeshivas, the city began implementing regulations targeting these Hasidic Jewish day schools.
These included requiring certain classes (currently not taught at yeshivas) to be taught for a specified length, allowing the New York City Public School System to declare yeshivas “non-compliant” and send parents to jail for truancy for sending children there, and allowing New York to investigate any private school after a complaint from any individual (not just from parents, teachers, or students of yeshivas).
Last month, a New York district court struck down these regulations, but the state has filed a notice that it is appealing the decision.
Hasidic community leaders have complained that the Times reporters, who are now under consideration for a Pulitzer Prize, presented a profoundly biased and inaccurate portrait of their schools.