Okay - if NY is closing because of a holiday of any religion they(the school system) are in the wrong ... if they(activists) are claiming that Winter & Spring breaks are "closings due to religion" they(activists) don't have a leg to stand on ..."Muslim activists lobbying to add the holy days to the school calendar -- which takes school off for Christmas and the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur -- were heartened this week by a City Council resolution supporting the observance of the two holidays -- Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
A handful of school districts in New Jersey and Michigan have recognized Muslim school holidays, while efforts in Baltimore and Connecticut have failed recently.
New York City has the nation's largest school system. A 2008 study by Columbia University's Teachers College estimates at least 10 percent of the city's 1.1 million students are Muslim."
If they give the day off for Muslim holidays ... what will keep them from having days off for Beltane, Litha, Ostara, etc. ... what about Good Friday, or the monday after Trinity Sunday? or one of the several other 100 religions that are in NYC?
It woould be better for the school system to say 'look we have 6 holidays .... boom, boom, boom ... these are federally recognized holidays; we have 2 weeks off in winter, 1 off in spring, and 2 1/2 months off in the summer ... period. If you want your child(ren) to miss extra days we will need a note from the parent stating the reason why...any tests missed will be rescheduled"
that's what they do in our district.
This also takes care of having to deal with 1200 'holidays' during the year ....
I'm not saying that one religous holiday is 'better' or 'more normal' that another ... in fact this puts everything on an even keel ... and it puts the burden of the child's education back on the parent - where it belongs!
There is no reason why a kid can't bring in a note at the beginning of the week so the teacher has a chance to get a packet of work together so they can keep up with class and be prepared when they come back.
None at all.
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