A high school teacher in Albany gave students an assignment that incorporated some history into it, instructing his class, "You must argue that Jews are evil, and use solid rationale from government propaganda to convince me of your loyalty to the Third Reich!"

According to the Times-Union, students at Albany High School 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."

Albany Superintendent Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard says that three classes were given the assignment and a third of the students refused to complete the assignment, "I would apologize to our families. I don't believe there was malice or intent to cause any insensitivities to our families of Jewish faith." Apparently the school is getting ready for the new Common Core tests, which are more sophisticated.

Earlier this year, a Manhattan teacher gave students word problems about slavery: "One slave got whipped five times a day. How many times did he get whipped in a month (31 days)?"