School District Considers Action over Pro-Nazi Writing Assignment

Teacher asked students to try to present a convincing case for blaming woes on Jews

School district officials in Albany say they're mulling disciplinary action for a high school English teacher whose writing assignment asked students to make a persuasive argument blaming Jews for the problems of Nazi Germany.

School district spokesman Ron Lesko says Friday that administrators are discussing what official action the 10th-grade teacher at Albany High School could face for the assignment given to students on Monday.

The assignment, first reported Friday by the Albany Times Union, asked students to research Nazi propaganda, then assume their teacher was a Nazi government official who had to be convinced of their loyalty. The assignment told students they "must argue that Jews are evil."