NEW YORK, March 7 (UPI) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg argues that the city should not add two major Muslim holy days to the holiday list.
Robert Jackson, a Muslim member of the city council, and other members have introduced a resolution that calls on the state Legislature to make Eid Ul-Fitr and Eid Ul-Adha official school holidays. Jackson said parents should not have to choose between their children's education and their religious obligations, The New York Sun reported.
A 2004 study by Columbia University found that about 10 percent of the children in the New York schools are Muslim.
Bloomberg said schools can find ways to allow Muslim children to take the holidays off without canceling classes.
"When you have a city as diverse as we do, with virtually every religion known to man practiced, if we closed school for every single day there wouldn't be any school," he said.
