FBI raid in Monsey - Amother enabled

watergirl

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 2:04 pm

I am at work now, on my lunch break. My Jewish but not religious at all asked me about this article, as well as the links that accompany it, to an article written by the same author in 2013. Here is the link to the JTA article

http://www.jta.org/2016/03/17/.....robe.

It doesnt matter how anti frum JTA is (or is not - I honestly have no clue and dont read their articles often). She has recorded facts about arrests made, as well as details the amount of computers, phone lines, cell phones (SMART PHONES!) and more, that the schools requested. If I understood it, it looks like they sold the phones and equipment and profited. Also, one of the older links reported that there was an arrest made a long time ago (old story) about a large group of chassidish women who participated in fraud with the local school district - here is a cut/paste from there, so I dont ruin the summation of it: Bais Ruchel D’Satmar, also known as Beth Rachel, has been involved in fraud in the past. In 1999, Rabbi Hertz Frankel, then principal of Bais Ruchel D’Satmar’s elementary school, pleaded guilty to felony charges of conspiring for nearly two decades with Brooklyn Community School District 14 to place dozens of chasidic women on the district payroll in no-show teaching jobs as a part of a plot to funnel more than $6 million to the school and its parent organization, United Talmudical Academy.

I dont understand how this fraud continues. I know that no one is perfect. BUT I ask - if this is a known thing, how can we still support these organizations as "frum"? Why do people continue to live there and associate with them?

I dont want to think this way, but I just called up my husband and asked him - is this how "they" make their money, and is this the way that "they" buy those strollers, fancy clothes, kallah jewelry that we keep reading about on here? I dont know who "they" is, btw. I guess I mean the people involved in the fraud - NOT CALLING CHASSIDISH PEOPLE OUT ON THIS! Just calling out the stealing people! I mean, I've long wondered how its possible that when I used to go to BP, and stop for ice cream, there were so many women out, in super fancy clothing, shopping at the insanely expensive shops - in the middle of the day! Again - not saying that these women are all part of this fraud ring - But, How can you maintain that lifestyle when you dont work, and your husband works a blue collar job? I have all the respect in the world for such a job (heck, thats why I was able to be out mid day - my own very blue collar job was night hours only!) Is this the way that some people do it? By participating in this fraudulent life? The communal pressure to dress just so, buy certain items, go to the country... those who cant afford it have to lie, cheat, and steal?

It hurts my heart to think of people this way.

Maya

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 4:00 pm

watergirl wrote:

here is a cut/paste from there, so I dont ruin the summation of it: Bais Ruchel D’Satmar, also known as Beth Rachel, has been involved in fraud in the past. In 1999, Rabbi Hertz Frankel, then principal of Bais Ruchel D’Satmar’s elementary school, pleaded guilty to felony charges of conspiring for nearly two decades with Brooklyn Community School District 14 to place dozens of chasidic women on the district payroll in no-show teaching jobs as a part of a plot to funnel more than $6 million to the school and its parent organization, United Talmudical Academy.

Interesting, I never heard of this. I know this happens now with vouchers fraud, but didn't know it happened in the past.

There is nothing to be done about this. There are rationalizations and justifications for the condoning of this systemic fraud. The only way to help it would be for the community to get educated - literally as in getting schooled in professions that will allow them to earn respectable salaries; and educated regarding awareness of the dangers and repercussions this fraudulent activity might yield.

I'm hopeful on both counts. Firstly because I'm seeing less of a stigma associated with college degrees and second, as more of this fraud gets exposed and criminals charged, people may become more afraid of committing such crimes.

amother

Aqua

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 4:18 pm

Maya wrote:

Really? That's hopeful. Can I ask which school?
What do they teach the elementary school girls on the computers?

I went to Satmar Boro Park. We had a computer room and got to go every once in a while to play games (mostly low level math games and def not on the internet which we had no access to) on it. We didn't learn things like Microsoft word or excel or even QuickBooks. And we learned how to type on typewriters which was in a separate room. This was several years ago so I am not sure if anything changed.

But what I am most angry about is that I did not graduate with an accredited high school diploma and had to get a GED instead. The school should not be getting any financial aid from the government until the girls are given a real education and are eligible to graduate high school with an accredited diploma. Otherwise, you are not just defrauding the govt, you are neglecting the kids as well and that is unacceptable and should not be tolerated at all/anymore.

gp2.0

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 4:19 pm

Maya wrote:

Really? That's hopeful. Can I ask which school?
What do they teach the elementary school girls on the computers?

So we've come full circle! When I was in Satmar BP elementary school 20 years ago we had computer class. We'd play math and spelling games. An interfering mom complained and put a stop to it, relegating computer time to 12th grade only, where they learned basic programs like word and excel. Nowadays the whole high school has computer class, learning photoshop and quickbooks too. And apparently now here we are, come full circle with elementary schools teaching computers again? I'm kvelling. Also, I feel old. Lol.

gp2.0

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 4:22 pm

amother wrote:

Lol the typewriters! Legend went they only kept that class because they couldn't fire the teacher. She passed away, and now they teach typing on computers. Very Happy

amother

Aqua

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 4:43 pm

gp2.0 wrote:

Lol the typewriters! Legend went they only kept that class because they couldn't fire the teacher. She passed away, and now they teach typing on computers. Very Happy

That "class" was a nightmare. But if they couldn't fire the teacher then why didn't they just let her teach us how to type on the computer? It's the same keyboard and would have made it more tolerable to learn how to type.

Do they really allow the girls to learn Photoshop these days? I remember having sewing classes once a week for about 3 hours or so for the entire Yiddish. Do they still have that? Because between sewing and typing, and the lack of any real stimulating learning/classes, going to school every day was torture and learning Photoshop or even having science lab etc would have made school slightly more tolerable than it was. What a waste of time. Sad

gp2.0

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 4:59 pm

amother wrote:

Because that teacher didn't know how to use a computer! Lol. She hated computers.

The 12th grade right now is amazing. Not sure about the other high school grades or how they stagger these courses. But the girls have tons of options for elective courses. Hair cutting, Photoshop, food decorating and lots more.

Also, the school is full of animals! The younger elementary grades have rabbits and tadpoles. There are goats on the roof! I wonder how their science lab is doing. Not sure. In my day it was a closet. I can find out.

Maya

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 5:01 pm

amother wrote:

We had typewriters and one computer room, where we learned word processing and QuickBooks.

Satmar Williamsburg's high school diplomas are accredited.

wondergirl

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 5:16 pm

Maya wrote:

The girls do not take Regents. Their diplomas are accepted by colleges, whereas diplomas from other Satmar schools are not and a GED is needed for college acceptance.

Which colleges accept the Satmar WB girls diplomas? Because I heard from a few people that they had to get their GED.

Also does the school offer gym, art, health class, science lab, etc required to graduate? Because if they don't offer any of these and they don't offer regents or something else instead of regents, then how are they accredited? Or do the colleges not know that the school is not accredited? Or is there more fraud going on that we are not aware of?
http://schools.nyc.gov/RulesPo.....t.htm

Maya

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 5:24 pm

wondergirl wrote:

Mine was accepted by a SUNY, and my husband's by a small private college in Brooklyn. Perhaps fancier colleges are not accepting them, I don't know. I can only speak of my experiences.

I imagine there is fraud involved, claiming to teach things which they don't, and forging transcripts, or something.

wondergirl

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 5:33 pm

Maya wrote:

Your husband may have gotten a BTL so that is different than a regular high school diploma. But the girls don't learn chumash, Rashi, Gemarah, etc. so they don't qualify for the BTL and since they don't take regents or the required classes to graduate either (as listed on the site I posted above), then they wouldn't be able to graduate with an accredited diploma altogether.

But colleges usually ask applicants for high school transcripts. Did you need that when you applied to college? If so, then what kind of transcript did you get? Did the school just make up classes and grades for you? How about a GPA? Or did the college not care about it and just asked for the high school diploma? And does it say on the diploma that the school is accredited?

Last edited by wondergirl on Thu, Mar 17 2016, 5:39 pm; edited 1 time in total

ra_mom

Thu, Mar 17 2016, 5:39 pm

wondergirl wrote:

Your husband may have gotten a BTL so that is different than a regular high school diploma. But the girls don't learn chumash, Rashi, Gemarah, etc. so they don't qualify for the BTL and since they don't take regents or the required classes to graduate either (as listed on the site I posted above), then they wouldn't be able to graduate with an accredited diploma.

But colleges usually ask applicants for high school transcripts. Did you need that when you applied to college? If so, then what kind of transcript did you get? Did the school just make up classes and grades for you? How about a GPA? Or did the college not care about it and just asked for the high school diploma? And does it say on the diploma that the school is accredited?

New York has accredited general diplomas, separate from regents diplomas, and most colleges accept them without the regents diploma.
You need to realize that most states do not have regents and colleges accept high school grads with general diplomas from all over.