According to the Times Union:

Students were asked to watch and read Nazi propaganda, then pretend their teacher was a Nazi government official who needed to be convinced of their loyalty. In five paragraphs, they were required to prove that Jews were the source of Germany's problems.

The assignment upset a number of students and families, prompting an apology from Albany High School Superintendent Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard, who chalked the controversy up to a misunderstanding about academic intent.

"I would apologize to our families," she told the Times Union. "I don't believe there was malice or intent to cause any insensitivities to our families of Jewish faith."

Continue Reading...

According to a report in the New York Times, Governor Andrew Cuomo is "putting the finishing touches" on legislation that would guarantee women in New York the right to late-term abortions when the fetus is non-viable or the mother's health is at risk.

The current law, which allows for abortions after 24 weeks only if the woman’s life is at risk, is not enforceable because of federal rulings that allow late-term abortions to protect a woman’s health more broadly, not only in cases where her life is in danger. It's a confusing set of contradictory policies that have, abortion rights advocates say, resulted in women not seeking legal late-term abortions or leaving the state to access abortion care.

In addition to clarifying current law, Cuomo's Reproductive Health Act would make explicit that, in addition to physicians, licensed health care practitioners can also perform abortions. The change would also regulate abortion through New York's public health, rather than its penal, laws.

Continue Reading...