Unorthodox Education is a 60-minute documentary that exposes a shocking truth -- tens of thousands of Jewish schoolchildren graduate from ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn yeshiva high schools without the legally-mandated education they need to become independent adults. Some are never even taught how to read, write, or speak English.
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DIRECTOR + PRODUCER
JOE KOLMAN
PRODUCER
ELANA SIGALL
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
ANNA ANDERSEN
EDITOR
GEORGE ITZHAK
STILL PHOTOGRAPHY
JONAH MARKOWITZ
Unorthodox Education is a powerful indictment of the failures of the educational system within the ultra-Orthodox (Hareidi) communities of New York State. More than that, it documents in painful detail the human costs of these failures. This film is a must-see for anyone interested in education rights, religious freedom, and the intersection of those values in a system seemingly unwilling to enforce minimum standards that would insure that all children growing up within these communities are equipped to face life’s basic demands.
JEFFREY S. SHOULSON, Ph.D.
Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and Professor of English
Brandeis University
This important film depicts how thousands of New York students are being denied their constitutional rights to a sound basic education
because the ultra-orthodox religious schools they attend refuse to teach basic math, English language skills, science, history and civics.
Through conversations with parents, graduates of the schools and academic researchers, the film demonstrates that teaching children the basic subjects needed to prepare them for citizenship and a decent job is not incompatible with adherence to deeply-felt religious values.
MICHAEL A. REBELL
Professor of Law and Education
Teachers College, Columbia University
