A leading schools advocate hailed the news that both mayoral candidates support giving schoolkids two Muslim holidays off.
“I’m very pleased to hear that,” said City Councilman Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan), the lone Muslim member.
He has been fighting to incorporate Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha into the public-school calendar, — for more than 100,000 Muslim schoolkids — since 2006, he said.
Mayor Bloomberg has said more holidays would hurt education.
Both GOP mayoral nominee Joe Lhota and Democratic nominee Bill de Blasio disagree.
“We have a growing Muslim community in the City of New York and their religion needs to be respected as all other religions are respected,” said Lhota.
De Blasio said, “We have to respect everyone’s faith in this city.”