Jewish transgender activist and former chassid Abby Stein asked New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio some tough questions about education reform in chassidic schools at a Harlem town hall meeting August 2.
Stein asked de Blasio what the city is doing to ensure English is being taught in Haredi schools. Now a student at Columbia University, Stein said she did herself didn’t learn to speak English fluently until the age of 20. “I know I am not the only one,” she said.
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An investigation by the advocacy group Young Advocates for Fair Education (Yaffed) sent a complaint to the Department of Education accusing 38 yeshivas in Brooklyn and one in Queens of “providing boys with subpar education.”
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Born into an illustrious founding family of chassidic Judaism, Stein was raised in Brooklyn in a strictly regulated and gender segregated community. Prior to transitioning to become a woman, Stein was married and had a child.
