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The Sun reports Mayor Bloomberg doesn't think Muslim holy days should become school holidays. His reason? "The truth of the matter is we need more children in school. More, not less."
The topic comes up because City Councilman Robert Jackson, who is Muslim, has introduced a resolution requiring public schools take holidays on Eid Ul-Fitr and Eid Ul-Adha. Ten percent of the NYC school population is Muslim.
Jackson argues that parents should have to decide "whether or not to send their students to school on the holiest day of the Muslim calendar, celebrating the month of the fast of Ramadan, or to send their kids to take a test." Additionally, cities like Dearborn, MI and Trenton, NJ have incorporated the holidays into their calendars.
Mayor Bloomberg's point: "When you have a city as diverse as we do, with virtually every religion known to man practiced, if we closed school for every single day there wouldn't be any school." According to the Education Department's calendar, students do get off for Rosh Hashanah (two days) and Good Friday. Non-religious holidays observed: Columbus Day, Election Day, Veterans Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Memorial Day (in addition to days where there are regents exams, teachers' workshop days and various breaks).
In 2004, some students at Brooklyn International High School claimed their principal was not allowing them to take time of for Ramadan; the principal explained they needed parental permission but some didn't get it. In the end, the students were allowed to miss the four Fridays associated with the holiday.
Photograph of school children performing at the State of the City address from the DOE
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Hmmm...are Rosh Hashanah and Good Friday considered holidays in Muslim countries? No, they consider those "devil" holidays. I hope Bloomberg doesn't back down.
This is stupid. Adn the solution is simple: Grant the holidays (it's called equality . . .) and extend the school year by a few days.
Next topic . . .
Most large corporations solve this problem by issuing employees a number of flexible vacation days. Want to take off MLK Jr. Day and work on Good Friday? Allocate your days as you see fit. The centralized testing schedule of public schooling offers complications to this solution, but they shouldn't be impossible to overcome.
Gothamist wrote about a school holiday last year that was religious in nature and became contested due to the changing religious demographics of Brooklyn and the centralization of the school board after the five boroughs consolidated. Kids around the city still get the day off, although few have any idea why.
Why wouldn't the parents give permission to the kids in Brooklyn International HS mentioned in the last paragraph?
No.
Exactly, JMH. Nothing like someone going on the offensive because of their own naivety.
A holiday celebrated by 10% of the school population isn't a day off? Sorry, but that's unacceptable if there are workarounds.
And there *are* workarounds! Making the school year two days longer will not cause chaos. Nor will giving students a couple of floating religious holidays and asking teachers not to schedule exams on the days when students will be using them.
This has nothing to do with keeping students in school and everything to do with giving Bloomberg an opportunity to grandstand, the dipshit.
A holiday celebrated by 10% of the school population isn't a day off? Sorry, but that's unacceptable if there are workarounds.
And there *are* workarounds! Making the school year two days longer will not cause chaos. Nor will giving students a couple of floating religious holidays and asking teachers not to schedule exams on the days when students will be using them.
This has nothing to do with keeping students in school and everything to do with giving Bloomberg an opportunity to grandstand, the dipshit.
we should give the muslims their holiday and give the chinese, chinese new year and the scientologists tom cruise day. If jews can get 2 holidays even though there are only 13 million jews worldwide or .02% of the world population then surely the muslims who number in 1.6 billion or 17% of the world population should get a holiday. I never understood why the Jews get so much press when they are such a tiny group?
The solution is simple, but it is not to blindly grant the holidays. If you approve of these days then why not Rammadan? THAT'S A MONTH LONG IN OCTOBER/NOVEMBER! School's individually should each grant religious holidays based on their individual population. For example, PS 747 with 75% Muslim population should get these holidays, PS 333 with 90% Christians should get Christian holidays, and PS 666 with %50 Jews and %50 Muslims we don't have to worry about because it was blown up.
I think giving students the entire month of the fast of Ramadan off is a little too over the top.
BTW Columbus day is a religious holiday.
The Jewish population in NYC is almost 2 million, which makes up a quarter of the city.
Also, would extending the school year involve negotiating with the teachers' union?
Nothing like giving students even more time off. The Muslim students can just get permission from the teacher saying they're unable be in school because of the holiday.
Nothing like giving students even more time off. The Muslim students can just get permission from the teacher saying they're unable be in school because of the holiday.
Just home school all of the little gits and bring on the end of the world as quickly as possible. Please!
Re #2:
Amen.
Devout Muslims in Muslim countries WORK during Ramadan. Devout Muslims in the USA WORK during Ramadan. It's a point of pride and culture to make the sacrifice and fast. Why should the kids get the day(s) off?
Cancel ALL religious holidays, including Christmas, the only religious holiday that's also a national holiday. Give the kids Arbor Day, Earth Day and Labor Day off.
Jen,
The Jewish population of NYC is closer to 1.3 million, with 1.7 million in the metropolitan area.
http://www.ujafedny.org/atf/cf/%7BAD848866-09C4-482C-9277-51A5D9CD6246%7D/JCommStudyIntro.pdf
Jen,
The Jewish population of NYC is closer to 1.3 million, with 1.7 million in the metropolitan area.
http://www.ujafedny.org/atf/cf/%7BAD848866-09C4-482C-9277-51A5D9CD6246%7D/JCommStudyIntro.pdf
Is that 1.3 million retail or wholesale?
it would be expensive to extend the school year by two days. those are additional days the teachers would have to get paid for
A lot of kids, pregnant women, and people who are ill or disabled get a pass during Ramadan. Most Imans will grant it to kids, simply because of age.
But, why not make Eid a holiday? ITs not like this is a tiny group.
FESTIVUS FOR THE REST OF US!!!!!!!
"The Jewish population in NYC is almost 2 million, which makes up a quarter of the city." - Jen Chung
Where do you come up with this shit?
Thanks, Other Islander - I was looking at NYC metropolitan area numbers from 2001. I stand corrected.
Just wondering...
If the Jewish population is 1.3 million, do we know how many Jewish children attend public school as opposed to private and yeshivas? Is it more or less than 10%?
I will always remember one of my elementary school teachers (oh Ms. goodman, whatever happened to thee...?)telling the class that the reason we didn't have school on Jewish Holidays was because there were so many Jewish teachers. Granted, that was 20 years ago, so who knows how true that is today...
"The centralized testing schedule of public schooling offers complications to this solution..."
Centralized testing itself offers complications, but I digress.
Floating holidays. Just like Dave Hogarty said, corporations ask you to tell them what floating holidays you want during the year. For some people MLK is a really important holiday and they want to celebrate it. Some its Good Friday. Takes it out of the realm of religion and into "days off"
It seems the only fair solution in a city that prides itself on its racial/ethnic/religious diversity. Or, uh...anywhere.
I don't think floating holidays are a good idea in a school system when you're trying to get through a preset curriculum. That means you'll have a lot of days when large numbers of kids are out and you wouldn't be able to teach anything substantial on those days or else all the kids from a certain religious group would miss it.
Floating holidays are the only fair solution, regardless of the inconvenience. Otherwise we have support of certain religions by the State.
Shouldn't they get off for gay pride week?
Parking rules are suspended in this city for the most obscure Catholic holidays, like the Solemnity of Ascension, and obscure Jewish holidays like Shemini Atzereth,,, no wonder the Muslims want their due.
Is this the fall of Western Society?
"At the time of Rome's weakening, their was an increasingly widening gap between the plebian and patrician classes do to the poverty of the plebians and the extreme richness of the patricians. This cause for social conflicts and a fall in the plebians morale who were, of course, the majority. When the government saw this, they created a huge number of holidays ( somewhere in the upper 100's) throughout the year and made such places for public amusement such as the coliseum ( they also had huge mass orgies...but let's not go there!) This created for a general loss of patriotism in the populace, and a loss of contact with the ruling class through the wide gap between the classes, and a lack of confidence in the now faltering Roman Empire."
http://www.main-vision.com/richard/decline.html
Is this the fall of Western Society?
"At the time of Rome's weakening, their was an increasingly widening gap between the plebian and patrician classes do to the poverty of the plebians and the extreme richness of the patricians. This cause for social conflicts and a fall in the plebians morale who were, of course, the majority. When the government saw this, they created a huge number of holidays ( somewhere in the upper 100's) throughout the year and made such places for public amusement such as the coliseum ( they also had huge mass orgies...but let's not go there!) This created for a general loss of patriotism in the populace, and a loss of contact with the ruling class through the wide gap between the classes, and a lack of confidence in the now faltering Roman Empire."
http://www.main-vision.com/richard/decline.html
If Muslim students wish to observe these holidays, they can take the days off on their own. NYC public schools do not penalize students who practice a religion for days taken off in religious observance.
Public schools in NYC already end later than most others in the country--kids don't get out until June 28 or thereabouts. Extending the school year by two days might mean they're in class until July, depending on how the days fall on the calendar. It's unfair to the larger student population.