New York teacher who assigned Nazi letter put on leave
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New York school district officials have placed a high school English teacher on leave for having students pretend to be Jew-hating Nazis in a writing assignment.
The teacher at Albany High School caused a storm of criticism after having students practice the art of persuasive argument by writing a letter to a fictitious Nazi government official arguing that "Jews are evil."
District Superintendent Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard held a news conference Friday apologizing for the assignment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Times Union reports that the teacher was not in class Friday and has been placed on leave.
The school district has not named the teacher, who was described as a veteran. Monday's assignment was brought to administrators' attention by a parent of one of the students. Some students refused to write the assignment.