Albany’s Blueprint for Schools: Cell‑Free Halls, Looser Yeshiva Rules, New Aid Math

At Medina Junior-Senior High School, where Joe Byrne teaches 8th grade social studies, cellphones had become a problem: Kids came to school anxious, depressed, and altogether distracted by the devices, Byrne said.

The school implemented a cellphone ban in January following a teacher-led effort to curb the nonstop use of the devices, and the change in student behavior over the past few months has been noticeable, Byrne said.

It reminds him of when he started teaching 24 years ago, long before smartphones had become ubiquitous.

“They do not have them in study halls, they do not have them in the cafeteria, they do not have them in the hallways,” said Byrne, who is also the president of the Medina Teachers Association. “And it’s changed the dynamics of the kids interacting again and the kids talking. And when I say there’s noise in the hallway, it’s good noise.”

While Medina took the initiative to rein in cellphone use, all school districts will implement similar restrictions starting in September under a statewide “bell to bell” ban that was negotiated as part of the state budget.

Hochul began pushing the proposal last year with the support of the New York State United Teachers union.

“Our kids are overwhelmed by the addiction, the addictive algorithms and endless distractions,” Hochul said in a press conference. “Ninety-five percent of teenagers have smartphones. They receive 250 notifications a day on average. They can’t possibly focus on anything else. They’re so afraid of missing something.”

It’s up to school districts to figure out how to implement the ban, but the budget does include $13.5 million to assist districts in purchasing supplies that can help.

Some schools have turned to small, lockable pouches designed to create distraction-free spaces. But the pouches are costly, and kids may be able to outsmart them.

Byrne’s school, which has about 600 students, was able to find a simple solution: Students are directed to leave their phones in their lockers. If they’re caught with them during school hours, the phones are held at the assistant principal’s office for the rest of the day.

“It has been a game-changer to see these kids really come out of their shell and not be in the hallway with these cellphones 24/7,” Byrne said.

Hochul’s policy win makes New York the largest state to enforce such a ban. It’s one of several major changes to education wrapped up in the state budget — which includes $37 billion overall for education.

Substantial Equivalency Rules Rolled Back

In a controversial move, the governor and the legislature agreed to roll back rules meant to ensure that nonpublic school students receive the same basic education in core subjects like English and math – despite pushback from the state Education Department.

Thanks to a deal made during state budget negotiations, some members of the Ultra Orthodox community — and their lobbyists — succeeded in their bid to fight requirements that yeshivas and other religious schools provide a “substantially equivalent” education to public schools.

Despite receiving more than $1 billion in taxpayer funding over a recent four-year period, a New York Times investigation in 2022 found that many of the state’s yeshivas offered students little-to-no education in basic subjects and generated some of the lowest standardized test scores in the state. Prompted by the Times investigation, the state education department began cracking down on these schools, and this year pulled funding for six Brooklyn yeshivas that had failed to cooperate with the substantial equivalency requirement.

Although the education department has vehemently opposed weakening its regulations, the new state budget contains language that loosens restrictions for these schools and delays implementation for one of the pathways to compliance until the 2032-33 school year.

Young Advocates for Fair Education (YAFFED), an advocacy group that seeks to improve secular education within Haredi schools, blasted the budget deal.

“This is not a minor reform that will allow schools operating in good faith to come into compliance,” said Adina Mermelstein Konikoff, the organization’s executive director. “The bill being considered eviscerates the safeguards that ensure all children in New York, regardless of what school they attend, receive a sound basic education — a right protected by our state constitution.”

In a statement, state Education Department spokesperson JP O’Hare said the change in regulations was politically motivated and a deliberate retreat from educational responsibility.

“This is not responsible policymaking,” he said. “It’s educational malpractice and an abandonment of New York’s obligation to every child.”

In a statement made during a state Board of Regents meeting days before the final budget vote, Chancellor Frances Wills said the negotiations over the substantial equivalency regulations had impacted the educational mission and moral obligations of the board, as well as the education department.

“We are astonished that … the governor and legislature have indicated that there may be a halt to the progress that has been made and a postponement of freedom of life choices for thousands of children,” she said.

The Foundation Aid Formula Finally Gets an Update

For the first time since its implementation in 2007, the complicated formula the state uses to distribute most education funding — Foundation Aid — is getting an update.

The new formula will update how poverty is measured and include additional funding for districts with English Language Learners. The total cost: $26 billion.