N.Y. teacher who assigned Nazi letter put on leave

NEW YORK (AP) — 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.

The Times Union in Albany reported 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.