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The Brooklyn teacher who sent an American soldier demoralizing letters written by sixth-graders apologized yesterday and admitted blame. In a statement issued by the Department of Education, social studies teacher Alex Kunhardt said he regretted offending Pfc. Rob Jacobs. His statement, however, did not address whether he either coached the students or read their missives — which accused soldiers of committing atrocities in Iraq — before mailing them.

A New York City school official, red-faced over Brooklyn sixth-graders who slammed a GI with anti-Iraq-war letters, said Tuesday they are sending the 20-year-old private a letter of apology. Deputy Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina plans to personally contact Pfc. Rob Jacobs and his family, a spokeswoman told the New York Post. Teacher Alex Kunhardt had his students write Jacobs as part of a social studies assignment. He declined to comment on whether he read the rants before passing them along, but said he planned to contact Jacobs soon to explain. In an accompanying letter to Jacobs, Kunhardt said the students...

February 23, 2005 -- The Brooklyn teacher who sent an American soldier demoralizing letters written by sixth-graders apologized yesterday and admitted blame. In a statement issued by the Department of Education, social studies teacher Alex Kunhardt said he regretted offending Pfc. Rob Jacobs. His statement, however, did not address whether he either coached the students or read their missives — which accused soldiers of committing atrocities in Iraq — before mailing them. The DOE, which is sending an apology to Jacobs and his family, declined comment.

Bloomberg Defends Troop-Trashing Letters New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is defending letters sent to an Iraq-bound GI by a sixth grade class in Brooklyn that trashed America's military heros as war criminals. Asked about the letters on Tuesday, the liberal Republican explained, "Well, look, we have freedom of speech and you certainly cannot go around censoring what people want to write." Bloomberg's defense came just hours before the teacher who supervised the project, Alex Kunhardt, offered a full public apology to Pfc. Rob Jacobs, who received the toxic diatribes last month while awaiting deployment in South Korea. "I deeply...

February 23, 2005 -- Mayor Mike says one reason many young Americans are deployed in harm's way overseas is to defend the right of junior high school pupils in Brooklyn to act like jerks. But who said otherwise? Nobody ever claimed that Alex Kunhardt's sixth-grade class at JHS 51 in Park Slope didn't have the right to pen politically charged, fundamentally disrespectful letters to an American GI stationed in Korea — or that Kunhardt himself didn't have the right to drop them in the mail (after maybe having coached the authors just a little bit?). The issue is not rights,...

The city Department of Education, red-faced over Brooklyn sixth-graders who slammed a GI with demoralizing anti-Iraq-war letters as part of a school assignment, will send the 20-year-old private a letter of apology today.

February 22, 2005 -- The city Department of Education, red-faced over Brooklyn sixth-graders who slammed a GI with demoralizing anti-Iraq-war letters as part of a school assignment, will send the 20-year-old private a letter of apology today. Deputy Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina, who has a nephew serving in Iraq, plans to personally contact Pfc. Rob Jacobs and his family, said department spokeswoman Michele McManus Higgins. Continued

Middle School Students Encouraged to Send Demoralizing Letters to Soldier Pfc. Rob Jacobs is a soldier based ten miles from the North Korean border. His home is in New Jersey. Therefore, it was not a surprise that he was excited when he received letters from sixth-grade students at JHS 51 in Park Slope; near Prospect Park in Brooklyn. But, that was before Pfc. Jacobs opened and read the letters. Monday, David Andreatta of the New York Post reported that these letters were “strewn with politically charged rhetoric, vicious accusations and demoralizing predictions that only a handful of soldiers would leave...

February 22, 2005 -- The city Department of Education, red-faced over Brooklyn sixth-graders who slammed a GI with demoralizing anti-Iraq-war letters as part of a school assignment, will send the 20-year-old private a letter of apology today. Deputy Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina, who has a nephew serving in Iraq, plans to personally contact Pfc. Rob Jacobs and his family, said department spokeswoman Michele McManus Higgins. "She knows how difficult it is to have a loved one in a war zone," Higgins said. Jacobs is stationed 10 miles from the North Korean border and who has been told he may be...