View letter

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today urged the New York City Department of Education (DOE) to consider including two Muslim holidays in the New York City school calendar and closing City schools in observance of these religious holidays.

“Muslims represent one of our fastest growing communities and comprise more than 12 percent of the City’s public school students,” Thompson said. “Indeed, many parents and advocates continue to express legitimate concern regarding the City’s failure to designate two of the holiest days in the Muslim calendar, Eid Ul-Fitr and Eid Ul-Adha, as school holidays.”

In a letter to Chancellor Joel Klein – available at www.comptroller.nyc – Thompson noted that the DOE can, as a matter of policy, incorporate these Muslim holidays into the school calendar on its own, without the passage of legislation by the State legislature or the City Council.

“Our City and our schools must remain sensitive to the needs of New Yorkers,” Thompson said. “To ignore these demands, and the City’s changing demographics, is to ignore our obligation to the City’s diverse communities.”

###