The campaign for Muslim school holidays
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After the city council passed a resolution in favor of adding two Muslim holidays to the public school holiday calendar, we polled our readers to see if you supported the council’s vote. Although Mayor Bloomberg does not think schools should close for additional days, 60% of our nearly 600 poll respondents said they would like to see Id al-Fitr and Id al-Adha on the calendar.
If you would like to demonstrate your support for adding the holidays to the school calendar, you can join the New York Civic Participation Project’s letter-writing campaign to the mayor, who has the final say. You can sign the coalition’s letter and send it directly to City Hall (The Honorable Michael Bloomberg, Office of the Mayor, City Hall, New York, NY 10007), or you can contact Sussie Lozada to arrange for NYCPP to pick up the letter and pay the postage. If you mail the letter on your own, make sure to email Lozada, so she can accurately track the number of letters sent.
The NYCPP’s Coalition for Muslim School Holidays represents more than 40 religious, labor, community, and advocacy organizations. According to the coalition, there are over 800,000 Muslim New Yorkers who represent 12% of the student population in public schools.
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I think the present system of days off is o.k. As long as it is school policy to accept absence notes from Muslim students as excused absences, then there is no prejudice. For 88% of the students to be controlled by the observance of 12% strikes me as preposterous.
Comment by Jeff — August 18, 2009 @ 7:04 pm
I think it is wrong to add these days to an already chaotic calendar. Thank you Jeff (comment above) for considering the 88% of parents and children who have to scramble because of a holiday that’s not their own. Besides, would Muslim countries CLOSE their schools to accomodate a Christian minority?
Comment by Momof3 — August 19, 2009 @ 7:10 am
I don’t think it’s a question of whether a country is Muslim or Christian — remember our country doesn’t have a state religion! However, we also cannot accommodate every holiday. The school year will not work that way. School holidays should include national holidays and those on which most workplaces are closed, as well as those which will cause enough absences among students and teachers to make holding school unreasonable. For most of NYC, the Muslim holidays currently do not meet this threshhold.
However, having grown up Jewish in another part of the country with few Jews, I can tell you how frustrating it was for me to miss out on major events at school which were often scheduled with no regard to the Jewish holidays. Efforts should be made not to schedule tests and events which are hard to make up on Muslim holidays.
Comment by A Parent — August 19, 2009 @ 9:11 am
There are options here: start the school year a little early, end it a little later, or drop one or more of the existing holidays. This is not just about convenience; it is about recognition of a group and a gesture to show them they are valued members of our community. I am not Muslim, but given the complicated history of Islam, Isreal, and US foreign policy and cultural attitudes towards both groups, I can understand how it might be a slap in the face for Muslim families to have their children home on Jewish holidays with no recognition of even a single Muslim holiday. All we are asking for are the most important 2 days of their year, not acommodation of their entire calendar. They will continue to miss school on other important days, so I think we can make the necessary changes to give them just 2 and extend a hand of community towards our fellow New Yorkers of the Islamic faith.
Comment by Anonymous — August 19, 2009 @ 10:53 am
Organizing the school calender seems like a tremendous task.
I don’t have an opinion yet about adding the muslim holidays.
I didn’t realize that there was such a large population of muslim students in the public school system.
What is the percentage of jewish students in the public school system?
Comment by slc — August 19, 2009 @ 11:32 am
I’m a bit alarmed that this debate is devolving into a Jew vs. Muslim issue. NYC is home to the largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel and for many decades an enormous percentage of teachers and administrators were Jewish and still are (though I suspect there are less now than in the 1950s 1960s). This past year alone, both my kids attended schools lead Jewish principals and Jewish assistant principals and Jewish parent coordinators. At least half their teachers were Jewish.
The policy of closing schools on select Jewish holidays wasn’t instituted to accomodate Jewish students, but to address the problem of massive teacher and administrator absenses on those days. The policy wasn’t set to be a message of tolerance or the honoring of a particular cultural group. It was simply an administrative nightmare to keep the schools open.
Which and how many holidays should be observed as well as how we can make sure that students of all backgrounds are not penalized for religious observances are topics worthy of a healthy discussion and fair resolution. However, the implication that the policy of closing schools on select Jewish holidays because there is likely to be massive absences is somehow a reflection of Jews having some favored status is offensive, false and an old and tired diatribe.
Comment by anonymous — August 19, 2009 @ 12:08 pm
Sorry, Anon # 6, my earlier comment about Jewish and Muslim families was not intended to point out any intentionally unfair policy, but rather one that might be percieved as unfair in a country and time in history that is not very friendly to Islam. You make a very valid point about the number of Jewish teachers and administrators. That doesn’t mean we can’t extend a hand to Muslim families as well. I apologize for any offense. Let’s try and be repsectful of one another’s opninions.
Comment by Anonymous # 4 — August 19, 2009 @ 1:30 pm
I do think numbers of students affected is an important consideration in determining which holidays are added to the school calendar, but I don’t think decisions about when schools should be closed should be based on tolerance. The concept of tolerance, and what official actions would further it, is too subjective to be handled in a fair manner. I also don’t think school policy should take into consideration foreign affairs such as highly charged conflicts in the Middle East even if there are many people in New York who have strong opinions and connections to it. So let’s keep it to the numbers and administrative concerns, which, by the way, should include a policy that allows, within reason, students to practice their religious beliefs without always having to take a make-up exam or having to miss an important school trip or event.
On a related issue, where does the 12% figure come from? Who compiles student statistics based upon religious affiliations? I wouldn’t be surprised if the number is accurate. It seems plausible, but I don’t recall schools ever requiring me to indicate my child’s religion and that would be necessary (and illegal) to get an accurate accounting. Is this a stat compiled by a private organization or stated in a City Council hearing that everyone is taking as fact without independent verification? Or is it based on the number of students absent on the Muslim holidays (which may include non-Muslim kids absent for other reasons). I’m not suggesting there is a conspiracy or that there isn’t enough Muslin students in the system to consider closing schools for the two holidays, but since the argument in favor of closing the schools is based on the number of Muslim students in the system, it got me thinking about how we arrive at these figures.
Comment by different anonymous — August 19, 2009 @ 2:46 pm
Another fair point, different anonymous. I am persuaded by your logic that we should focus on the numbers instead.
Comment by Anonymous # 4 — August 19, 2009 @ 3:29 pm
I think we should do a poll as to what all InsideSchools readers think of this question. Perhaps next week?
Comment by Anonymous — August 19, 2009 @ 5:20 pm
#10: As noted above, we polled our readers in June following the city council’s resolution. Check out the link to see the results!
Comment by Insideschools Staff — August 20, 2009 @ 11:36 am
If this is a democratic country and the constitution say that everyone has the equal right then why Muslim holidays(two most important days -eidul fitr & eidul adha) should not be on the calender. We all should think about it and help to make it happen.
Comment by lauren, patent — August 21, 2009 @ 4:59 am
“If this is a democratic country and the constitution say that everyone has the equal right then why Muslim holidays(two most important days -eidul fitr & eidul adha) should not be on the calender.”
There are also Hindu holidays, Mormon holidays, Buddhist holidays, Catholic holidays (only Christmas is currently observed by the schools), etc. etc. that are not on the calendar, as well as many important cultural/ethnic holidays that are non-religious. In fact, EVERY SINGLE DAY is a holiday or day of observance to some group or another. Here’s only the religious ones, ignoring the others:
http://www.interfaithcalendar.org/2009.htm
Having an excused absence and no important events/exams, makes far more sense to me. Otherwise, do you want to incorporate the calendar I linked? Because then, in the interest of “equal rights,” we’d have no school days at all!
Comment by Julie — August 21, 2009 @ 9:10 am
What about the Chinese/Korean/Vietnamese New Year? What about some Catholic holidays that are observed in many European countries but not here????
I think we could add 3 months of holidays to our existing holidays!
Comment by Anonymous — August 24, 2009 @ 8:54 pm
I think that they should add muslim holidays to the calendar.
It is just two holidays.
Comment by Anonymous — September 6, 2009 @ 10:04 pm