Bill Prohibits School Tests on Religious Holidays

The anti-testing crowd is going to love this. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) has colluded with politicians to prevent statewide school exams on religious holidays.

From IQNA.ir:

CAIR-NY said the legislation is a victory for religious freedom and civil rights in New York, particularly for the Muslim community. Earlier this year, Muslim students in New York were not able to celebrate Eid-ul-Adha, one of two main Islamic holidays, due to state mandated exams which coincided with the event.

Following that incident, CAIR-NY, the New York City Human Rights Commission and other advocacy groups began an initiative to ensure religious freedoms were upheld in New York public schools.

"All students should to be able to observe their religion without worrying about jeopardizing their education," said CAIR-NY Civil Rights Director Nadia Mohammad. "The passing of this bill is a positive first step toward gaining recognition of Islamic holidays in New York public schools."

Originally drafted by State Senator John D. Sabini (D/WFP-Jackson Heights), the bill was to block testing during the Muslim holidays of Eid-ul-Adha and Eid-ul-Fitr. The bill was later amended to include all religious holidays and passed unanimously in both the Senate and the Assembly.

So, while there has been an ongoing campaign to rid schools of any hint of Christianity, legislators are rolling over and playing good dog for Islam. Notably, it was only after the fact that they decided to include all religions.

I strongly recommend that Gov. Pataki not sign the bill. Think about it. There are many, many religions with many more religious holidays. School administrators would have to bone up on every conceivable religious holiday during the school year and try to wedge in an exam schedule. All the while they'd be fearful of an ACLU lawsuit on behalf of a pagan sect that observes the Holy Festival of the Betrothed Goat, or some other holiday they missed.

And even disregarding the fact that the law appears to favor Islam and likely creates an unnecessary administrative burden, I think the NY Legislature has passed a "law respecting an establishment of religion."