Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The easy answer is that Montgomery County, especially the west side, is full of Jews.

Jews have a lot of political pull and their campaign contributions are important.

Ha. If Jews are the ones with all the political pull and cash for campaign contributions, why do my kids have to take time off for Easter? It's not even on a weekday! I think the PPs are right... lots of students and teachers out for the only two Jewish holidays MCPS gets off. Some things are about practical needs--not "campaign contributions." But thanks for reminding me that the Jewish Conspiracy folks are still out there.

Your kids don't get off because of Easter. Montgomery County always schedules its spring break to coincide with Easter. It has never been called Easter break.

Not true. Good Friday and Easter monday are called Easter break. When we were in private school spring break was always the last week of March. I wish MCPS did that rather than have an Easter break. A late April break, as we had 2 years ago, is ill timed for high school students with APs and finals. And of course the skiing is unreliable later in the spring.

The teacher was wrong. I worked in two different schools. One a high school and the other a middle school. The high school had 120 adults and I can remember only three Jews. I was only at the middle school for two years but I can't remember any.

The plural of anecdote is not data.

Anonymous wrote:to agree with an earlier post, an MCPS teacher told me it was more about the teachers than the kids - there's way more jewish teachers than available subs. It seems practical - a kid can miss a day for a holiday but a teacher had to be replaced. Eventually we might have enough teachers to close for major hindu or muslim holidays, but until then, it's a student only absence.

The teacher was wrong. I worked in two different schools. One a high school and the other a middle school. The high school had 120 adults and I can remember only three Jews. I was only at the middle school for two years but I can't remember any.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The easy answer is that Montgomery County, especially the west side, is full of Jews.

Jews have a lot of political pull and their campaign contributions are important.

Ha. If Jews are the ones with all the political pull and cash for campaign contributions, why do my kids have to take time off for Easter? It's not even on a weekday! I think the PPs are right... lots of students and teachers out for the only two Jewish holidays MCPS gets off. Some things are about practical needs--not "campaign contributions." But thanks for reminding me that the Jewish Conspiracy folks are still out there.

Your kids don't get off because of Easter. Montgomery County always schedules its spring break to coincide with Easter. It has never been called Easter break.

Anonymous wrote:The easy answer is that Montgomery County, especially the west side, is full of Jews.

Jews have a lot of political pull and their campaign contributions are important.

Why does my kid have to take off MLK day? Or Easter? We are not black or Christian.

Because we live in a community - we teach inclusive not, fuck everyone else but me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems every year we get this post. Frankly, the whole tone offends me. If you don't like getting off for Jewish holidays then I suggest moving to an all Christian area. I can certainly turn it around and complain bitterly about missing school days for the Christian holidays (and no they are not universal, so don't go with that lame argument).

Woah what makes you assume the poster is Christian and not atheist, Muslim, Wiccan, Buddhist or just a good old fashioned trouble maker? I'm assuming the they are a trouble maker who has child care issues that are difficult to work out given their obvious propensity towards jackassness.

Because so far that has been my experience in this area of the country.

Anonymous wrote:The easy answer is that Montgomery County, especially the west side, is full of Jews.

Jews have a lot of political pull and their campaign contributions are important.

Because simply having a lot of Jewish students and teachers in the area would be a silly reason to observe their holidays...

Anonymous wrote:It seems every year we get this post. Frankly, the whole tone offends me. If you don't like getting off for Jewish holidays then I suggest moving to an all Christian area. I can certainly turn it around and complain bitterly about missing school days for the Christian holidays (and no they are not universal, so don't go with that lame argument).

Woah what makes you assume the poster is Christian and not atheist, Muslim, Wiccan, Buddhist or just a good old fashioned trouble maker? I'm assuming the they are a trouble maker who has child care issues that are difficult to work out given their obvious propensity towards jackassness.

Anonymous wrote:The easy answer is that Montgomery County, especially the west side, is full of Jews.

Jews have a lot of political pull and their campaign contributions are important.

This may be an easy answer, but its not correct.
"As authorized, the Board adds additional holidays to those listed in § 7-103(c), including Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President's Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Yom Kippur, and Rosh Hashanah. The Board decided to include Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah to the list of holidays because high absenteeism among both teachers and students on those days resulted in low instructional productivity and increased costs for substitute teachers." see KOENICK v FELTON http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=search&case=/data2/circs/4th/971935p.html

Anonymous wrote:The easy answer is that Montgomery County, especially the west side, is full of Jews.

Jews have a lot of political pull and their campaign contributions are important.

Ha. If Jews are the ones with all the political pull and cash for campaign contributions, why do my kids have to take time off for Easter? It's not even on a weekday! I think the PPs are right... lots of students and teachers out for the only two Jewish holidays MCPS gets off. Some things are about practical needs--not "campaign contributions." But thanks for reminding me that the Jewish Conspiracy folks are still out there.

Ugh, I'm so tired of having days off for Christmas and Easter. Can someone please Explain this to me? Why should we even have holidays anyways?

It seems every year we get this post. Frankly, the whole tone offends me. If you don't like getting off for Jewish holidays then I suggest moving to an all Christian area. I can certainly turn it around and complain bitterly about missing school days for the Christian holidays (and no they are not universal, so don't go with that lame argument).

The easy answer is that Montgomery County, especially the west side, is full of Jews.

Jews have a lot of political pull and their campaign contributions are important.

to agree with an earlier post, an MCPS teacher told me it was more about the teachers than the kids - there's way more jewish teachers than available subs. It seems practical - a kid can miss a day for a holiday but a teacher had to be replaced. Eventually we might have enough teachers to close for major hindu or muslim holidays, but until then, it's a student only absence.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plus, it's not "all Jewish holidays." It's two. You want to see closings for all Jewish holidays? My kiddo at JCC preschool is off two days a week for four straight weeks for various Jewish holidays.

And the last two years one of them fell on a weekend so there was only one day off school.

Actually, it's been the last 3 years.
Rosh Hashnah was on a Saturday in '09.
Yom Kippur Saturday in '10 and in '11.

As a non-Jew, I don't mind the Jewish holidays. I usually schedule dental appointments for the kids on them! But also as a non-Jew, I am happy when one is on the weekend so we can go to school that one day and not have to add it in June.