Last month, the New York Times published an extensive investigation into the ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools, or yeshivas, commonly attended by New York’s Hasidic population. “In Hasidic Enclaves, Failing Private Schools Flush With Public Money” paints a horrifying picture of religious schools that claim public funding while graduating young adults who cannot read and write in English. These schools are designed, Eliza Shapiro and Brian Rosenthal explain, “to wall [students] off from the secular world.”

Following the Times’ investigation and subsequent editorial pressure, New York officials have signaled that they may take a tougher approach to overseeing these private schools. Lawmakers have tended to eschew interference with Hasidic yeshivas, likely in deference to this highly disciplined single-issue voting bloc. Questions related to ultra-Orthodox education are currently being litigated at various levels of the judicial hierarchy.

The Times story echoes what whistleblowers have been saying for years. Young Advocates for Fair Education Reform (YAFFED), an advocacy group started by yeshiva alumnus Naftuli Moster, has collected shocking testimonials from former yeshiva students who recount schooling experiences characterized by authoritarian control and academic deprivation. High school students may devote more than thirteen hours a day, six days a week, exclusively to Torah study and prayer.