Niagara Leader

New York Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt has raised concerns over the State Education Department's (SED) "substantial equivalency" regulations, advocating for their repeal in the upcoming state budget. Ortt criticized the perceived inaction of Albany Democrats regarding the substantial equivalency mandates.

"Our state's woke, big-government education agenda has gone too far in targeting religious education," stated Ortt. "For too long, Albany bureaucrats and radical progressives have been waging war on parental rights in education and trampling on religious schools' autonomy. We don’t need to just delay these attacks, we need to end them."

Speculations from media reports indicate that Albany Democrats may consider delaying these requirements amid prolonged state budget negotiations. Ortt has signaled that he and fellow Senate Republicans are willing to support the complete removal of these education mandates.

"It’s time to protect parents’ right to choose what’s best for their children’s education and scrap these substantial equivalency rules in the budget, once and for all," Ortt continued. "The Senate Republican Conference stands firm in the belief that parents should decide their children’s education, not SED bureaucrats. It’s time for these big-government regulations to be repealed."