"There’s just more work to do,” de Blasio told reporters on Thursday during a press conference in the Bronx to mark the first day of school. | AP Photo De Blasio gives no timeframe for yeshiva investigation

Two years after promising to look into the matter, Mayor Bill de Blasio provided no clear timeline Thursday for when his administration will conclude an investigation into whether yeshivas are breaking the law by eliminating secular studies in favor of religious instruction.

“There’s just more work to do,” de Blasio told reporters on Thursday during a press conference in the Bronx to mark the first day of school.


“We gave an initial projection, we found that we have to do more work we have a lot more schools to visit to get to a more firm conclusion,” de Blasio said. “But look, in the meantime there’s been a lot of dialogue with the yeshivas, very purposeful efforts to address these issues even as the overall situation is being assessed.”

The investigation was set in motion after education activist Naftuli Moster, with the group Young Advocates for a Fair Education, filed a complaint with the city saying his yeshiva education had left him unprepared, uneducated and unable to make a living.

"Boys ages 13 and up receive no secular education at all. So they attend yeshiva for as many as 14 hours a day, from 6:30 AM to 8:30 PM often, and they get zero secular studies," Moster told NY1 last month. "No English, no math, forget about science or social studies, which they don't even get in elementary school."

Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña promised the City Council that it could expect a report on the investigation, but she too was unable to provide any clear timeline Thursday.

“We have visited some schools but we haven’t visited enough schools, so we’re in the in midst of doing that now and school just started today," Fariña said. "Our plan is to visit schools over the next few months to come up with a much more specific guideline."

State law requires private schools to provide an education that is equal to a public education in terms of content and standards. The city and state however have shied away from aggressively enforcing the law and through the years have provided the yeshivas with millions of dollars in funding.

Advocates have said de Blasio’s delay is politically motivated. The city is in the heart of election season and the Orthodox Jewish community is considered a powerful voting bloc, particularly in the mayor's home borough of Brooklyn.

De Blasio brushed off criticism that he was soft on the yeshivas, saying the administration is having “dialogues” with the Orthodox community to make educational standards and requirements more clear.

De Blasio has shown a willingness to support somewhat controversial causes for the Orthodox community in the past. In 2015, he made a deal with the City Council to provide millions in taxpayer dollars so yeshivas could pay for private security guards at their schools.

In 2015 he reversed a Bloomberg-era policy on metzitzah b'peh, the controversial circumcision practice, reaching an agreement that eliminated the need for parents to sign a consent form.

“I think everyone is trying to find common ground as soon as we feel we actually have assessed the situation completely enough we will come forward with that report,"de Blasio said. "But I don’t have a date for you but I do think progress is being made as we speak."

Conor Skelding contributed to this report.