Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Lakewood Buses -- This Can't Be Real, Can it?

Lakewood Kollel Veib reports that there is an effort underway in Lakewood to only have Jewish bus drivers drive the kids home from Yeshiva. The Yeshiva would also supplement the drivers' salaries (above the standard salary paid by the state) to bring the pay to about thirty dollars an hour. The Yeshiva would then pass the cost along to the parents.

Personally, I'm finding this one a bit troubling. Can't the people in Lakewood see that this is something that is totally illegal and discriminatory? Don't they realize that this is just a massive lawsuit waiting to happen?

Personally, I'm wondering if there is such a serious campaign or if this is just a bunch of idle chatter. Does anyone have any concrete information on this?

The Wolf

(For an alternative take on this subject, see Rabbi Maryles' blog).

4 comments:

Lion of Zion said...

"Can't the people in Lakewood see that this is something that is totally illegal and discriminatory"

i'm still waiting for the day when parents sue a yeshivah for discrimination because they rejected their son based on the parents' hashkafah/observance.

Nice Jewish Guy said...

Wouldn't ever happen. Yeshivas are parochial and private religious schools, and as such, have the right to set policy regarding their academic and religious philosophy. Plus, there's the whole sepaation-of-"church"-and-state thing.

Of course, I'm not a lawyer, so consult your local legal counsel. Also, anyone can sue anyone for anything.

Lion of Zion said...

nice jewish guy:

i also don't know anything about the law, but i doubt that's true, especially since jewish schools get indirect assistance (busses, textbooks, lunches, etc.)

also every so often a yeshivah takes out an adv. in the jewish press to announce disclosure of non-discrimination. what is the purpose of this if private schools are not bound by these laws?

BrooklynWolf said...

NJG,

I can't speak to NJ Law, but in NY one can discriminate on the basis of race/age/religion/gender if there is a bona fide requirement for that specific type. The classic example is acting -- if the role calls for a black man in his 40s, a white woman in her 60s can't sue for discrimination because she was rejected for the part.

While you might be able to argue that Jews are required to teach Judaic studies, you'd have a *much* tougher time trying to convince a judge that only Jews are able to properly bus children home.

As I said, I don't know what the laws are in NJ, but I would imagine that they probably aren't too different than in NY.

The Wolf