(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/10/14) -- CAIR is urging American Muslims and other people of conscience in Maryland to contact the Montgomery County Public Schools' (MCPS) Board of Education to vote in favor of equality for Muslim school holidays.
On Tuesday, November 11, that board will vote to decide if the Muslim holidays of Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha will be placed on the 2015 school calendar. CAIR is also urging as many people as possible to attend the meeting.
WHEN: Tuesday, November 11, 10:30 a.m.
The board's superintendent has proposed three options for the school calendar. CAIR and the Equality 4 Eid coalition are urging the superintendant to support the option that offers equality for Muslim holidays without sacrificing the existing holidays for students of other faiths.
In October, CAIR provided testimony at a Montgomery County Public Schools' Board of Education meeting in Rockville, Md., seeking inclusion of the Muslim "Eid" holidays on the public school calendar.
CAIR Maryland Outreach Manager and Equality for Eid Coalition Co-Chair Zainab Chaudry spoke on behalf of the Montgomery County Muslim community, advising MCPS Superintendent Dr. Joshua Starr and board members on the importance of fairness and equality in their decision to recognize religious holidays in public schools.
Members of the Montgomery County Muslim community – who account for up to 10 percent of the county's population – have been struggling for more than a decade to have the Eid holidays of Eid ul-Adha and Eid ul-Fitr be recognized by the school board, but their efforts have met with resistance.
In 2013, CAIR, at the behest of local Muslim leaders, led efforts to form the Equality for Eid Coalition – a grassroots initiative that has launched an organized campaign to raise awareness and support for this cause. Thousands of signatures, letters, and phone calls by county residents supporting the movement have so far been largely ignored.