The Orthodox Union (OU) Advocacy Center applauded New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo for emphasizing the importance of protecting students from discrimination and harassment in his State of the State Address, delivered today in Albany.

Referring to the spate of anti-Semitic activities that took place this past November within the Pine Bush School District, Gov. Cuomo proposed amending New York State law to require all public schools to notify the State Education Department (SED), the Division of Human Rights and the State Police if there is a pattern of discrimination or harassment. Schools will also be required to implement SED intervention protocols to remedy these injustices.

“All New Yorkers must be able to attend school without fear of discrimination or harassment,” said Gov. Cuomo.

“We applaud and commend Gov. Cuomo for his ongoing vigilance on this issue, for his ‘zero tolerance’ policy on anti-Semitism, and for proposing a law that will require schools to report discrimination and harassment,” said Jeff Leb, Director of NY State Political Affairs for OU Advocacy. “Bullying or harassment of any kind should never be tolerated, but bullying and harassment against schoolchildren compromises their ability to focus and to learn and transforms an environment that should be a safe place into a place of fear and intimidation. We hope all New York state legislators embrace this proposed law to protect our students,” Leb said.