What in the world is going on in American public schools? Good heavens:

ALBANY, New York - A New York state high school English teacher who asked students to imagine they were Nazis and give reasons why Jews were evil could be reprimanded or dismissed, a school district superintendent said on Friday. City School District of Albany Superintendent Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard apologized at a news conference and pledged officials would personally express regret to Albany High School students who were given the assignment and their families. "This assignment for some of our students at Albany High School was completely unacceptable. It displayed a level of insensitivity that we will not tolerate in our school community," Vanden Wyngaard said. "I'm deeply apologetic to all of our students, to all of our families and the entire community," she said, appearing with representatives of the Anti-Defamation League and the United Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York at the federation office in Albany. Vanden Wyngaard declined to name the teacher but said the teacher was removed from class and faced disciplinary action.

“Faced disciplinary action?” This "educator" should be fired immediately.

It’s one thing to teach your students about anti-Semitism, the Third Reich, and Nazi propaganda (all proper topics for the classroom). But it’s quite another to force your students to write an essay about why Jews are inherently evil. Frankly, I’m mystified that any professional teacher tasked with the responsibility of educating teenagers could think this was a good idea. Such an exercise merely perpetuates stereotypes and falsehoods, and has no academic value whatsoever in my estimation. Disgusting.

For what it’s worth, here’s the prompt the teacher assigned to his/her students:

"You need to pretend that I am a member of the government in Nazi Germany, and you are being challenged to consider that you are loyal to the Nazis by writing an essay convincing me that Jews are evil and the source of our problems," the assignment instructions said.

These are your taxpayer dollars at work, America. Aren’t you glad to know they’re being so well spent?