The New York State Assembly has passed a bill prohibiting discrimination against students attending private schools and colleges who absent themselves in observance of Sabbath and other religious holidays. The measure was introduced in the form of an amendment to the 1966 Education Act which extends such protection to students in public institutions.
It requires private schools and colleges to make “reasonable accommodations” to the needs of religiously observant students and allows the colleges to pass on to such students all reasonable costs incurred by such accommodations. Under the new measure, an aggrieved student may seek remedy from the State Division for Human Rights and not, as under the present law, by initiating action in a court of law. The amendment was co-sponsored by Assemblymen Stanley Steingut, the Minority Leader; Anthony G. DiFalco; Albert H, Blumenthal; Alexander Chananau; and Leonard Silverman, all Democrats of New York City.
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