Every school year we get legitimate complaints from our members about school calendars that recognize Jewish holidays by name but not Christian ones. This year is no exception as complaints have been fielded from Cincinnati, Ohio, Peekskill, New York and other parts of the country.
The way it usually works is like this. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are listed but not Christmas and Easter: Winter Break and Spring Break are the preferred euphemisms.
There is no law against secularizing Christian holy days while acknowledging Jewish ones. It’s just a matter of insult, bad taste and, arguably, bigotry. It will continue until Christian parents come together and demand a change.
Want to hear the latest? This past summer a school official at a Cape Cod, Massachusetts school said that students would be forbidden to distribute Valentine’s Day cards during school hours. That, of course, isn’t censorship—it’s those parents who want to shield their kids from porn on the internet who are the censors. Americans believe in fairness and that is why we can still win on this issue.
