Judge Delays Edict to Bar Public Teachers From Offering Remedial Classes in Parochial Schools

A federal judge has ruled that the city has until the start of the 1986 school year to stop public-school teachers from teaching remedial classes in parochial schools.

A ruling by U.S. District Judge Edward R. Neaher of Brooklyn, announced Monday, delays implementation of a July U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring the program unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court upheld a 1984 federal appeals court ruling ordering the city to end the program in the current school year.

Neaher’s order requires the Board of Education to begin submitting bimonthly reports to him on Dec. 5 “describing in reasonable detail the progress being made” in replacing the program.

“Does the court allow them a one-year stay, even if they have a plan or if they have been dogging it?” asked Stanley Geller, an attorney for program opponents.

A one-year stay requiring nothing more than bimonthly reports amounts to a blank check until next September, Geller said.

“If that’s what this decision means, we will seriously consider filing an appeal,” he said.

But Education Secretary William J. Bennett, who supports the practice, said in Washington Tuesday: “The District Court’s decision is a victory for common sense.”