Calculus and chemistry are among the pressures awaiting Mesuka Akter, a senior this year at Long Island City High School in New York City.
But unlike past school years, Akter, a Muslim, will not have to choose between missing school and missing the two holiest days on the Islamic calendar.
Provided an early or late moon does not change the Islamic lunar calendar, Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, is expected to take place Sept. 20. Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, is expected to come on Thanksgiving Day or the Friday after.
Muslim and Jewish members of the Jerusalem-based Interfaith Encounter Association share a kosher Ramadan meal they jointed prepared during Ramadan a few years ago. The meal, prepared at the home of a Muslim facilitator, was prepared with kosher food out of respect for Jewish participants. (RNS PHOTO by Michele Chabin)
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“It feels great to know that I’ll be home, hopefully, with my family,” said Akter, who has two younger brothers. “But you also have to keep working to change things, because this will be a problem again next year.”
Akter belongs to the Coalition for Muslim School Holidays, a group of more than 80 religious and ethnic organizations lobbying to have the two Eid holidays designated as days off in New York City schools, in which 10 percent of the 1.1 million students are Muslim, according to a study published last year by the Teachers College at Columbia University. The city’s school calendar already recognizes Christmas and the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Religious holiday controversies, of course, are not unique to Muslims, or to New York City. The issue can loom as large as church-state donnybrooks or as quotidian as concerns from students aiming for perfect school attendance while also wanting to observe their faith.
Non-Abrahamic religions also face difficult choices, but do not have the numbers to ask for school holidays. Ishani Chowdhury remembers how her parents wrote notes to teachers asking them to excuse their daughter on Diwali, a major Hindu holiday usually celebrated in the fall.
“We think you can discuss these issues with teachers. You can take a proactive approach. You can observe your faith and still work towards your educational goals,” said Chowdhury, who is director of public policy at the Hindu American Foundation.
The New York effort took-off after state education officials scheduled the Regents exam on Eid al-Adha in 2006. In 2007, the New York State Legislature passed a law prohibiting standardized tests being held on religious holidays, and is considering a bill that would require New York City schools to close on Eid holidays.
The New York City Council recently passed a non-binding resolution in favor of closing school for the two Eid days. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has the final say, opposes the idea, arguing that it would cut into the 180 days of school required by state law and open the door to more religions asking for their holidays off.
Others agree that shortening the school year would be a mistake, but say city officials can simply shorten summer vacation instead.
“Giving days off for the Eids does not mean fewer days in school,” said Faiza Ali, a spokeswoman for the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic relations.
When Eid days happened during school in past years, Akter celebrated at home if she had no tests scheduled, but went to school if she did, dampening spirits and raising questions about her commitment to the faith.
New York City officials say they already accommodate students by excusing them from school for religious holidays without being penalized or having the absence appear on their record. “Students are allowed to take an excused day whenever they want,” said Margie Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Education. “It’s not as if a student who wants to take those days off will be impacted.”
Not true, said Akter, explaining that when she missed school last year for Eid al-Fitr, the absence was on her record. “If we’re absent, we’re absent. It shows that I was absent that day,” she said.
Getting religious holidays off depends not only on the number of students observing the holiday, but also the number of teachers and other school workers. Supporters of closing public schools for Eid note that when Jewish holidays landed on the school calendars, about 20 percent of students and 40 percent of school workers were Jewish.
Samira Hussein, who has pushed to have Eid designated as a school holiday in Montgomery County Md., agrees. While the number of Muslim school workers in the county has increased, Hussein believes that concerns about a perceived negative public image of Muslims keeps them from asking off for the Eid days.
“We have more Muslim teachers now than in the past, but they’re not coming forward,” said Hussein, a social worker in the country school system. “A lot of them are new teachers and worry that the debate is too controversial.”
Nevertheless, she said, things have improved since her oldest son, now 28, was in school. Tests were frequently scheduled on holy days and teachers were sometimes reluctant to grant an excused absence for a religious holiday they knew little about. Now, her youngest child, Amira, who will be a senior this year, says that while it would be nice to have the Eids off, getting an excused absence as she does now, suffices.
“We tell parents to call school and let them know the kids will be off,” Samira Hussein said.