A New York congressman and state attorney general are pledging to push for coordinated federal and state response to allegations of religious discrimination and bullying in a school district in the Hudson Valley.
Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman warned that violation of laws that prohibit discrimination and harassment will not be tolerated. The two Democrats pledged to pursue a full state and federal response to the allegations of bullying and pervasive harassment of and discrimination against Jewish students in the Pine Bush Central School District. Last November, Schneiderman’s Civil Rights Bureau launched an investigation after receiving complaints that Jewish students enrolled in the school district -- which covers seven townships in Ulster, Sullivan and Orange Counties – were subjected to pervasive harassment and discrimination. The Dignity for All Students Act, which was signed into law in September of 2010, is New York's first comprehensive statewide anti-bullying legislation, and Maloney and Schneiderman are calling for similar legislation to be passed on the federal level.