To the Editor: Re “Guarding Privacy May Not Always Protect Patients” (18 and Under, July 12): A wealth of research shows that access to confidential reproductive health care benefits teenage patients. Although many minors voluntarily consult adult family members on questions about sexual health, others do not feel comfortable, or fear, doing so. New York’s confidentiality laws ensure young people will get the care they need.

To the Editor: As the legislative session draws to a close, the state Senate has unfinished business that would leave New York state's public school children vulnerable to bullying and harassment at school.

To the Editor: An Associated Press article published on April 6, “Bullying raises questions about schools’ vigilance,” misleadingly counts New York State among states with anti-bullying laws. In fact, New York has no comprehensive law addressing bullying and harassment in public schools. It is among nine states to receive an “F” from Bully Police USA, a national watchdog group that advocates for anti-bullying laws.

To the Editor: Your April 15 editorial, "Approve anti-bullying legislation," hit the mark. The time for state lawmakers to confront bullying in New York's public schools is long overdue. They should start by passing the Dignity for All Students Act, which would amend state education law to protect public school students from harassment and discrimination based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religion, religious practice, weight, disability, sexual orientation, gender or sex.

To the Editor: “The Trouble With ‘Zero Tolerance’ ” (editorial, Nov. 11): Zero tolerance policies plague school districts nationwide, and, unfortunately, New York City is no exception. De facto zero tolerance causes wrongful arrests, searches and suspensions of students in too many of the city’s neediest schools. More than 5,200 police personnel patrol the city’s schools, making it the nation’s fifth-largest police force — larger than the forces of Washington and Boston. Police personnel interact with students daily but lack adequate training and supervision to work in schools.

To to Editor: The rash of student suicides at Schenectady High School demonstrates the urgent need for the Dignity for All Students Act [DASA], legislation that would empower educators in Schenectady and throughout the state to provide all students a safe, comfortable learning environment.

To the editor: Your May 16 article, "Little Falls school board discusses character education program," omits that Care Net, the organization proposing the program, defines its mission as "presenting the gospel of our Lord to women with crisis pregnancies." In other words, its true mission is preventing abortion. Unfortunately, we know that such groups often use coercive and deceptive tactics in pursuing their mission. The board of education should reject the program proposed by this organization.

To the editor: The ethnic slur hurled at a 15-year-old high school student of Iraqi descent at Shenendehowa High School ("Shen's handling of anti-Arab slur upsets family," May 15), and the feeble response by school officials to the hateful taunt, demonstrate the crucial need to enact the Dignity for All Students Act. The proposed act would amend the New York Education Law to prohibit harassment and discrimination against students in public schools based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender or sex.

"Board bans 2 books from reading list" [News, Dec. 5] reveals a troubling rationale for the removal of two "objectionable" books from the ninth-grade student-selected reading list. The school board's "personal parent test" - that if a school board member wouldn't want his or her children to read the book then it must go - must be placed under scrutiny. The slippery slope that the Westhampton School Board finds itself in having to act as if it is the parents of the entire district.

The New York Post ran an editorial Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007 questioning the state Health Department’s decision to reject federal Title V funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. The newspaper based its skepticism, in part, on the notion that state Health Commissioner Richard Daines can “claim as allies the radical miscreants at the New York Civil Liberties Union, who on the same day that he made his announcement released a report slamming the state's abstinence programs.” Donna Lieberman, the NYCLU’s chief miscreant, sent the Post the following rebuttal: