DCPS and Jewish holidays

[Anonymous]

Ok - I'll continue playing this game. Yes Christmas is a Christian holiday. It is also a national holiday - meaning gov't offices are closed. I work for the federal gov't. I have to take my own days for RH and YK and always have. The gov't is not closed for two weeks around Christmas. It is closed for Christmas Day. It is not closed for Easter, because Easter is not a national holiday, although it is a Christian holiday.

We can cut the data however you want. But the reality is that DCPS is not a majority Jewish school district. It isn't even close. If there are schools that are majority Jewish within DCPS then maybe they should get the autonomy to take those days off. And same with other religious holidays and other specific schools where that religion is a minority.

[Anonymous]

I don't the standard is whether Jews are a majority in the district- because that would be pretty stunning given our percentage in the population. It should be an assessment of how disruptive it is to the school system each year to have subs and kids out of school. I assume in MoCo, this was the case-- what are the stats there? What are the stats in NYC?
Hell, I even grew up in WASPy, suburban Connecticut, and we closed for RH and YK.
But, I think given the demographics and poverty in DCS, I would still not advocate closing for HHD unless the data demonstrates there is a need.
I am fine having my kids take excused absences and the school should not schedule tests or school events on those days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I would also caution you from extrapolating anything about the diversity of kids across DCPS from your school's population, especially if you're trying to make an argument for change.

Easter Monday in DCPS, for example, has a different cultural history than just as a day associated with a Christian/religious holiday.

Easter Monday is no longer a DCPS holiday.

[Anonymous]

Schools and employers aren't closing for religious observation.

They are closing for purely secular reasons: when it doesn't make economic sense to be open because too many people will be entitled by law to take the day off for religious reasons, and you can't reasonably function without so many people/get subs; too many of the constituents you serve are not present or available to serve, so it makes no economic sense to keep the buildings open, pay a staff to man an empty facility, etc.

[Anonymous]

Jewish parent of one kid in a charter and one kid in a Jewish preschool (which also means they have spring break on consecutive weeks this year because of when Passover falls in the spring) weighing in to say: It would be very silly to close D.C. schools for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. What percentage Jewish could D.C.'s public and charter school population possibly be? Charters overall are about 5 percent white, and DCPS is about 13 percent white. I'd be surprised if the teaching and professional staff demographics were much different. So it's clearly not anything like the situation in Montgomery County (or New York City, or other school systems people have brought up here).

So long as the holidays are an excused absence and there aren't essential tests, lectures, etc., held on these days, what's the problem?

[Anonymous]

As a Jewish DCPS teacher, the only thing I resent is that in order to take my own high holidays off, I have to use personal days. Not so for Christian teachers...and FWIW, students do have Easter Monday off. It's factored into the dates for Spring Break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a Jewish DCPS teacher, the only thing I resent is that in order to take my own high holidays off, I have to use personal days. Not so for Christian teachers...and FWIW, students do have Easter Monday off. It's factored into the dates for Spring Break.

Sure, but as a Jewish non-teacher, I have to use paid time off to take off my own holidays, too. That's just sort of how it goes, isn't it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a Jewish DCPS teacher, the only thing I resent is that in order to take my own high holidays off, I have to use personal days. Not so for Christian teachers...and FWIW, students do have Easter Monday off. It's factored into the dates for Spring Break.

Not this year.

Easter is April 1, 2018. Spring break (for DCPS on the traditional schedule) is March 26-30. There is school on Monday, April 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a Jewish DCPS teacher, the only thing I resent is that in order to take my own high holidays off, I have to use personal days. Not so for Christian teachers...and FWIW, students do have Easter Monday off. It's factored into the dates for Spring Break.

I am Christian and celebrate Easter. There is no sort of celebration whatsoever on Easter Monday. It's just not a religious day at all. Good Friday is much more religious and it's always a school day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christmas is a national holiday, the high holidays are not. Eid is not. That's why businesses are closed for Christmas and not for Eid. I'm a Jew - but that is just a fact.

Christmas is a Christian holiday. Most schools and businesses are closed in recognition that the majority of the population is Christian. It is not a national holiday and many non-Christians don't celebrate anything on that day other than enjoying the day off, just as they would on a weekend or a secular holiday like President's Day.

NP but Christmas has turned into a secular, consumer holiday. Also, "Easter Monday" is not a holiday or a thing and Easter is tied to a Sunday.

Christmas is a federal holiday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Jewish DCPS teacher, the only thing I resent is that in order to take my own high holidays off, I have to use personal days. Not so for Christian teachers...and FWIW, students do have Easter Monday off. It's factored into the dates for Spring Break.

I am Christian and celebrate Easter. There is no sort of celebration whatsoever on Easter Monday. It's just not a religious day at all. Good Friday is much more religious and it's always a school day.

You are clearly not for DC. Easter Monday at the Zoo is a cultural day / tradition for African American Families. It started over 100 years ago as African-Americans were not allowed to participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll - and many families were domestic help and required to work on Easter.


For Spring Break - DC messed up when they said a few years ago that it would always be around Emancipation Day - but only stuck to it for a year. People complained - April is TOO late for a skiing vacation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Jewish DCPS teacher, the only thing I resent is that in order to take my own high holidays off, I have to use personal days. Not so for Christian teachers...and FWIW, students do have Easter Monday off. It's factored into the dates for Spring Break.

I am Christian and celebrate Easter. There is no sort of celebration whatsoever on Easter Monday. It's just not a religious day at all. Good Friday is much more religious and it's always a school day.

You are clearly not for DC. Easter Monday at the Zoo is a cultural day / tradition for African American Families. It started over 100 years ago as African-Americans were not allowed to participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll - and many families were domestic help and required to work on Easter.


For Spring Break - DC messed up when they said a few years ago that it would always be around Emancipation Day - but only stuck to it for a year. People complained - April is TOO late for a skiing vacation.

For those who don't understand the Easter Monday school tradition please read this http://www.theroot.com/for-dc-easter-monday-at-the-national-zoo-is-an-african-1790859364

HOWEVER, it is no longer a school holiday and in a number of schools, attendance will be light.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Jewish DCPS teacher, the only thing I resent is that in order to take my own high holidays off, I have to use personal days. Not so for Christian teachers...and FWIW, students do have Easter Monday off. It's factored into the dates for Spring Break.

I am Christian and celebrate Easter. There is no sort of celebration whatsoever on Easter Monday. It's just not a religious day at all. Good Friday is much more religious and it's always a school day.

You are clearly not for DC. Easter Monday at the Zoo is a cultural day / tradition for African American Families. It started over 100 years ago as African-Americans were not allowed to participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll - and many families were domestic help and required to work on Easter.


For Spring Break - DC messed up when they said a few years ago that it would always be around Emancipation Day - but only stuck to it for a year. People complained - April is TOO late for a skiing vacation.

For those who don't understand the Easter Monday school tradition please read this http://www.theroot.com/for-dc-easter-monday-at-the-national-zoo-is-an-african-1790859364

HOWEVER, it is no longer a school holiday and in a number of schools, attendance will be light.

OK... but it's not religious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Jewish DCPS teacher, the only thing I resent is that in order to take my own high holidays off, I have to use personal days. Not so for Christian teachers...and FWIW, students do have Easter Monday off. It's factored into the dates for Spring Break.

I am Christian and celebrate Easter. There is no sort of celebration whatsoever on Easter Monday. It's just not a religious day at all. Good Friday is much more religious and it's always a school day.

You do realize there are other Christian traditions than the one you follow, right? And some of them do have religious observances/traditions on Easter Monday.

[Anonymous]

"Technically " speaking, MCPS doesn't give kids a day off for religious holidays. It's an off day that "just happens" to coincide with the Jewish holiday.