By Lindsay Press
The New York Regents are aiming to forcibly take control of local school boards, thanks to the state’s Regionalization Plan, meaning these boards can go against the wishes of the parents, says a local education advocate.
After a backlash from the general public in November 2024, the Regents announced that same month that they were backing down; the people were satisfied, believing that the local school boards would remain in charge of their individual districts. However, Long Island Life & Politics has learned that the original language that was written in the Regents’ bylaws has not been changed.
The significant language appeared in a December 24, 2024, issue of the Board of Regents Register:
(d) The Department, district superintendents, and component school districts shall undertake any other responsibilities needed to develop or implement regionalization plans or as otherwise directed by the Commissioner.
Steve Levy, Co-Publisher of Long Island Life & Politics and former Suffolk County executive, said left-wing educators and politicians “have been pushing diversity, equity, and critical race theory. “They’re trying to usurp control from the local districts and funnel it through a centralized agency using the regents to accomplish that goal.”
“It’s always been that local school boards could run their schools according to local standards, but now are being forced by the state to incorporate a tremendous amount of objectionable woke nonsense. Some of this includes making blatantly pornographic materials accessible to 13-year-olds,” he continued. Levy also stated that the BOCES board has the ability to overrule any initiatives they don’t support.
“The origins of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the education sector evolved over approximately five decades,” said Lisa Azzarelli, an education advocate. She went on to state the following to Long Island Life & Politics:
- This began in 2019 after New York became a one-party Democrat-controlled state
- Lester Young became the Chancellor of the Board of Regents and issued a “Call to Action” in which he declared, “Finally, we appear ready to address our long history of racism and bigotry and the corrosive impact they have on every facet of American life.” Young provided no empirical evidence for his accusations. Laws, such as Title 1 and Affirmative Action, prove Young’s accusations to be thoroughly unfounded
- In 2021, The New York State Education Department (NYSED) released the Culturally Responsive-Sustaining (CR-S) Guidance for schools to adopt CRT. The guidance was authored largely by David Kirkland and Gloria Ladsen-Billings, two prominent Critical Race Theory activists. The document is heavily focused on race, marginalization, and empowering students to be activists as “agents of social change.”
- Eastern Suffolk BOCES created a document, titled “Strategic Plan” with an emphasis to implement DEI over a seven-year period.
- Schools districts began integrating policy to reflect DEI initiative
In an article written on the Crossing The Divide website by Emiliano Garcia-López and Enoch Sanchez, the authors write that Republicans are against critical race theory, stating, “They view it as an untrue ideology that only divides the country along racial lines and accentuates our differences rather than our commonalities, something extremely dangerous to the shared social fabric.”
Azzerelli said it’s easy to find articles online which prove “school boards censor speakers by eliminating public comment or making arbitrary or intimidating rules on speaking,” said Azzerelli.
The National School Board Association’s president and CEO sent a letter to then-President Joe Biden on September 29, 2021. “The letter said that the acts of some parents attending school board meetings across the country could be considered ‘a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.’ As a result, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered the FBI to investigate. This action further chilled parents’ rights and free speech.”
Azzerelli also provided a local example of censorship which took place when the Smithtown Central School District initiated a Diversity Team in 2019, which included parents and teachers moderated by the superintendent of curriculum. “Over the course of the year, some parents became deeply concerned by the materials distributed on ‘white privilege’ and bias depictions of ‘police brutality,’” said Azzerelli. “When the parents voiced concerns the ‘Team’ was abruptly terminated.”
When asked what the New York Regents are aiming to teach children in these classrooms, Azzerelli provided a host of examples, including:
- The 2021 NYSED Guidance (CR-S) and the 2023 NYSED Guidance: Creating a Safe and Supportive School Environment For Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students, (which states, “only the student knows when it is safe to tell a parent” (pg.17)).”
- The Implementation of Social Emotional Learning (SEL), which is a psychological practice without a license
- The exposure of school district leaders and teachers covertly implementing controversial ideologies, such as East Meadow Superintendent Dave Casamento, as seen on Project Veritas
- The passing of Human Rights Law 296 and the subsequent 2024 Prop 1 amendment to the New York State Constitution — which includes eleven new protected classes — including “age.” As a result, it asserts that telling a parent is now student “harassment” (section 4).
- The passing of an emergency ruling on Regionalization, which essentially transfers power away from elected school boards to a government entity
“Altogether, we can assess that the NYSED and compliant school leaders are teaching children theories that they don’t want parents to find out about. Salacious theories surrounding sexual experimentation, racism, encouraging secrecy toward parents, and a hatred for America are a few,” said Azzerelli.
When asked by Long Island Life & Politics if students are told not to tell their parents what they are learning in school, Azzerelli referenced a story from The New York Post, saying that one public case involved a Comsewogue teacher who secretly “transitioned” her 10-year-old female student to act male. “The school did not inform the parents,” she said. “As a result, the student suffered emotional distress and suicidal ideation.”
Azzerelli mentioned that complaints have been sent to Save Our Schools. One complaint involved students at a West Babylon school, where parents were allegedly told that their children were on a field trip when the students were instead brought to an LGBT activism rally. Azzerelli also stated that students have allegedly been “exposed to personally invasive and uncomfortable surveys on sexuality, political views, race scenarios, police brutality narrative, etc. during school hours, without parental consent.”
“The Regionalization plan pushes equity over equality,” Azzerelli said. “It also permits other stakeholders to push into the education system without defining who these stakeholders may be. There is a major concern that these “other stakeholders” likely refer to teacher union affiliates and interests.”
“Evidently, the Board of Regents is not backing down from its original wording that seems to supersede local district control of our schools,” Levy added. “If the Regents won’t respond to the demands of our taxpayers and parents, then it is incumbent upon our state representatives to pass legislation to change these terrible regulations once and for all.
“Let’s be unequivocal that the Board of Regents will not be able to usurp local districts or require the Regents’ approval for the type of decisions that were always made by our local schools,” Levy continued. “Will any Long Island state legislator step up? We will see.”