Council Education Panel OKs Adding Muslim Holidays

The City Council's Education Panel voted 10-1 to add the Muslim holidays of "Eid ul-Fitr, a day of giving thanks, and Eid ul-Adha, a day of remembrance," to the school calendar. Councilmember Robert Jackson, who introduced the legislation last year, said, "This is about being inclusive. This is about the city of New York being flexible to understand that the diversity of our city is complimented when we can include all holidays into the school calendar." About 10% of the NYC public school population is Muslim. The lone "no" vote was from Councilmember Oliver Koppell, who told the Riverdale Press, "I just feel that we can’t, we shouldn’t deprive kids of school. And we should make accommodation for everybody’s religious observance." The Press adds he's concerned about asking the state for two extra school days, "Reducing school days... until everyone's holidays were recognized would be onerous, he said." On that note, Councilmember Simcha Felder is against closing schools on every holiday, but, PolitickerNY reports, "since the practice is in place, now, it should be applied uniformly."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on June 18, 2009 6:18 PM

Comments [rss]

JenChungsBaby

There shouldn't be any religious holidays sanctioned by the gov't. And that includes Christmas, the only federal holiday that's also a religious one. Instead just give workers and students an allowance of four or five days off per year they can use for religious observance.

Jen S

A great idea, but I imagine there'd be a lot of kids who'd fall behind. Even missing one days' worth of material can be rough. Teachers would be stressed to keep everyone up to speed.

r1b2

There still have to be 180 days, right? So they'll have to be made up elsewhere.

nik13

If only teachers didn't get paid for any additional holidays...no wonder NYC kids graduate while remaining virtually illiterate.

Steven

How could children learn if they're always on vacation?

Half the time children don't even care about their holiday, they're just happy not going to school.