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Joined: 18 Oct 2014
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 Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 3:55 pm Post subject: New York City Schools recognize 2 Muslim holidays |
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New York City adds 2 holidays to public school calendar
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Mayor Bill de Blasio announced this morning that the Muslim holidays of Eid al-Adha and al-Fitr have been added to the NYC public school schedule, calling it "a change that respects the diversity of our city."
During the Bloomberg administration, the City Council approved adding the holidays, but Mayor Bloomberg was against the measure, saying in 2008, "The truth of the matter is we need more children in school. More, not less," and "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." |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 4:12 pm Post subject: |
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| I don't see a problem with this. In case you forgot, or simply didn't know in the first place, the Islamic calendar "cycles through the (Gregorian) year" as the Islamic calendar is shorter. That means that in some years there is no Muslim holiday observed. There's also the fact that the number of days of instruction in schools is set by law meaning there is no loss of educational opportunity. By the way, did you not know that the NYC schools already observe Jewish holidays? This is simply doing the right thing by a significant number of students and teaches in the city. |
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W.T.Carl
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 5:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Excellent days for pig roasts and keg parties! |
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Chaparrastique
Joined: 01 Jan 2014
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| Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Its easy to view the muslim community as some sort of charming curiosity when they form only a tiny % of your population. |
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Cave Dweller
Joined: 17 Aug 2014
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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| I dont mind marking the calendar but they should not be closing The school on those days. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 12:12 am Post subject: |
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| What about the fact that NYC's been closing the schools on some Jewish holidays already? The rationale isn't that the schools are recognizing a religion; it's that the city's recognizing that a significant portion of the students will not be present on certain days. Since school funding is tied to attendance, it just makes fiscal sense to do this. |
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Cave Dweller
Joined: 17 Aug 2014
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 12:14 am Post subject: |
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I dont support closing on a [racial slur edit] holiday either.
Murica is a secular country.
| CentralCali wrote: |
| What about the fact that NYC's been closing the schools on some Jewish holidays already? The rationale isn't that the schools are recognizing a religion; it's that the city's recognizing that a significant portion of the students will not be present on certain days. Since school funding is tied to attendance, it just makes fiscal sense to do this. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 3:55 am Post subject: |
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| Cave Dweller wrote: |
| I dont support closing on a jew holiday either. |
"Jew holiday"? You might want to rephrase that.
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| Murica is a secular country. |
No kidding. That's not what's at issue here. What's at issue is that the schools have a significant population of certain religions and that population tends to actually not be present on certain days. Since soe of the funding (you know, from "Murica" federal government) is tied to attendance (aka "bodies in seats"), it simply makes sense to do for another significant demographic what they're already doing for one demographic and for the same reason.
And you still don't seem to grasp that there's no loss of education days. |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 4:31 am Post subject: |
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| CentralCali wrote: |
| Cave Dweller wrote: |
| I dont support closing on a jew holiday either. |
"Jew holiday"? You might want to rephrase that.
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| Murica is a secular country. |
No kidding. That's not what's at issue here. What's at issue is that the schools have a significant population of certain religions and that population tends to actually not be present on certain days. Since soe of the funding (you know, from "Murica" federal government) is tied to attendance (aka "bodies in seats"), it simply makes sense to do for another significant demographic what they're already doing for one demographic and for the same reason.
And you still don't seem to grasp that there's no loss of education days. |
Right, and they'd be closing schools for Zoroastrian, Pagan, and Druze holidays if the populations got high enough. I'm guessing the push here came from teachers who teach to empty seats a couple days a year, and I've heard nothing about it coming from the Muslim community. This is really a non-issue - it's not a holiday, it's just a day off school. |
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Plain Meaning
Joined: 18 Oct 2014
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| Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 8:19 am Post subject: |
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| CentralCali wrote: |
| I don't see a problem with this. In case you forgot, or simply didn't know in the first place, the Islamic calendar "cycles through the (Gregorian) year" as the Islamic calendar is shorter. That means that in some years there is no Muslim holiday observed. There's also the fact that the number of days of instruction in schools is set by law meaning there is no loss of educational opportunity. By the way, did you not know that the NYC schools already observe Jewish holidays? This is simply doing the right thing by a significant number of students and teaches in the city. |
This response is remarkably and needlessly hostile, given that there's no indication that I either support or oppose the measure.
In fact, I support the measure. |
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W.T.Carl
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 11:18 am Post subject: |
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| For a teacher a day off is a day off! If I were teaching in NYC, I would hold pig roasts and keggers. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 3:39 pm Post subject: |
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| W.T.Carl wrote: |
| For a teacher a day off is a day off! If I were teaching in NYC, I would hold pig roasts and keggers. |
I would have thought that there was a mandatory minimum number of school days per year, and that any days taken off for these holidays would need to be made up elsewhere? I know when I was in school if we even had too many snow days we lost a day of summer vacation in the bargain.
As far as the policy itself goes, as long as the people of New York are fine with it, that's really all that matters. This is the benefit of local-level decision making: people in one city can craft policy that they feel makes sense for them without imposing on the rest of the country in the bargain. Absent any clear injustice, the rest of us don't really need to hold an opinion on the matter. |
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Cave Dweller
Joined: 17 Aug 2014
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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No I would not like to rephrase that. Jew means Jewish. Are you mad because I didn't capitalize it?
| CentralCali wrote: |
| Cave Dweller wrote: |
| I dont support closing on a jew holiday either. |
"Jew holiday"? You might want to rephrase that.
| Quote: |
| Murica is a secular country. |
No kidding. That's not what's at issue here. What's at issue is that the schools have a significant population of certain religions and that population tends to actually not be present on certain days. Since soe of the funding (you know, from "Murica" federal government) is tied to attendance (aka "bodies in seats"), it simply makes sense to do for another significant demographic what they're already doing for one demographic and for the same reason.
And you still don't seem to grasp that there's no loss of education days. |
Last edited by Cave Dweller on Sun Mar 08, 2015 8:59 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 8:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Cave Dweller wrote: |
No I would not lije to rephrase that. Jew means Jewish. Are you mad because I didn't capitalize it?
| CentralCali wrote: |
| Cave Dweller wrote: |
| I dont support closing on a jew holiday either. |
"Jew holiday"? You might want to rephrase that. |
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No, genius. I'm not mad. I'm just not impressed by someone today using the term as the way you've used it is an anti-Semitic slur. |
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