Both Bill de Blasio, Joe Lhota say schools should close on Muslim holidays
The mayoral candidates agree that schools should recognize Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, the holiest days of the Muslim year, just as they do Jewish and Christian days. De Blasio says that schools must 'respect Muslim faiths,' and Lhota says he has been calling to close schools on the two days throughout his campaign.
By Ben Chapman , Erin Durkin AND Jennifer Fermino / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, October 17, 2013, 1:27 AM
Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News
Bill de Blasio at an event for Muslim Americans in Columbus Park, Brooklyn, on Wednesday. The Democratic mayoral candidate, as well as his Republican rival, Joe Lhota, says that schools should close on the two holiest days of the Muslim year.
No matter who is elected mayor next month, city kids will likely find two new vacation days on the school calendar: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, the holiest days of the Muslim year.
Both Democrat Bill de Blasio and Republican Joe Lhota say schools should close on the two holidays, just as they do for major Jewish and Christian days.
It's a matter of "respect" for a religion practiced by an estimated 13 percent of city school kids, de Blasio said Wednesday at a campaign rally with Muslim groups in Brooklyn.
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"The origins of this nation (are) people of many different faiths coming together … That's why we have to respect Muslim faiths by providing the Eid school holidays for children in our school system," de Blasio said.
Mark Bonifacio/New York Daily News
Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota says he's been calling for schools to close on the two holidays throughout his campaign.
The two holidays fall at different times during the year but often land on school days, including in 2006 when they coincided with a state-wide test.
“A child who has an exam on a day that right now is one of the Eid holidays, they're either respecting their religious obligation or they're doing what their education requires of them,” de Blasio said. “They can't do both under our current system."
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Lhota said he's been calling for to close schools on the two days throughout his campaign. "We have a growing Muslim community in the city of New York and their religion needs to be respected as all other religions are respected," he said Wednesday.
"We're not going to lose the school days,” he added. “We'll have to extend the school days by those two days. But nonetheless those who are Muslim will be allowed to have that day off to celebrate their holidays."
Pavel Rahman/AP
Women exchange greetings after Eid prayers outside Masjid Darul Quran Muslim center in Bay Shore, L..I., during Eid al-Fitr on October 26, 2012.
Advocates have been pushing for the city to give kids the days off for years, but faced strong opposition from Mayor Bloomberg, who raised concerns that adding Muslim holidays to the school calendar would open the door to a flood of similar requests from other religious and ethnic groups.
"Everybody would like to be recognized, but the truth of the matter is we need more school days, not less," Bloomberg said in 2009.
The city's school calendar currently has 13 days off for kids, including the Rosh Hashana Jewish New Year and Good Friday.
Since the current school calendar includes no Muslim holidays, many parents who practice the faith are forced to keep their kids home from school on their holy days.
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