Good God, man. Stop making stuff up. The Tweet was one source, but the mayor made other statements. Oh, wait, nah, the OP got it wrong, the reporter got it wrong, the CSM editors got it wrong, but luckily, TOMNDEB IS HERE TO ACCURATELY INTERPRET THE ARTICLE FOR ALL OF US MORONS!!! Thank you, sir, for your selflessness. I don’t know if you noticed, but your redefining of the OP fits very well with your argument. Well done.
What prejudices do you think I demonstrate? Or did you mean to type “prejudices”? I merely advocated for recognizing more diversity, the mayor’s stated goal. The more groups, but not individuals, recognized, the more diversity can be reflected. Apparently you weren’t aware, but diversity can be reflected in other ways than religion. Read your definition.
My posts have been clear: the calendar should reflect educationally sound principles. “Reflecting diversity” in NYC is unnecessary and limitless, as a principle on which to base the calendar. The reason for the change was to “reflect diversity.” I realize you think you can just make up a story about the reporter being wrong, but you can’t.
Now, if you have secret knowledge about this story, and if the reporter’s ONLY source was the tweet, I wish you’d cite it. Because that is not how the story reads. Or the tweet (which is first person plural).
But if all you can muster are more abusive ad hominems, I guess go ahead. You can always count on the support of Miller.
I redefined nothing. Your imagination has taken you to an odd place. (You do not even appear to understand what you meant, having posted contradictory statements on several occasions without actually explaining your actual position–other than a scorn of the use of the word “diversity.”)
You lumped together “gays, Mexicans, and communists” in a way that implied that they were some sort of odd collection of people who did not really deserve recognition.
More semantic nonsense. You explicitly championed days off for specific groups in specific locations, but you bridle at letting one school district recognize one group on their calendar while making no assertion that the calendar should be changed to stop recognizing two similar groups for related reasons–all because the word “diversity” appeared in the comments on the calendar change.
You have not demonstrated any understanding of the situation, so I really do not need “secret knowledge” to recognize that your abhorrence of the word “diversity” does not provide a legitimate reason to challenge the New York City school district’s calendar change.
You’re absolutely right: I did not understand you. I thought you claimed the reporter and the OP misinterpreted the mayor’s statement. You didn’t say that? I hallucinated again? Good, then we agree the OP was accurate: the REASON FOR the change was to REFLECT DIVERSITY.
That goal can be met millions of ways. I am totally in favor of local control and changes for sound educational reasons. Neither the mayor, nor you, have stated why Muslims “reflect diversity” BETTER than gays, Mexicans, or communists, (or Sikhs or Hindus or Buddhists, for that matter.) Nor have you, or the mayor, explained why “reflecting diversity” should be the goal of the school calendar.
You can continue with your nonsense about diversity, or “diversity”, or prejudice. It’s irrelevant, anyway; even if I were prejudiced against gays and Mexicans, that still would not justify selecting one religion as more worthy of recognition than gays and Mexicans. Particularly when the only stated GOAL is to “reflect diversity.” In fact, religion, which can easily be changed, “reflects diversity” FAR LESS than sexual orientation, ethnicity, or nationality, which CANNOT be as easily changed. And remember, now that you’ve apparently dropped your nonsense about the reporter being wrong, the mayor’s goal was to “reflect diversity.”
So, you do not believe there should be any religious days off, since that would be selecting one religion as more worthy of recognition than gays and Mexicans?
(I can rewrite this with lots of scare quotes and capitals if that will help.)
That’s alright. I found a random word generator online that makes about as much sense as you are right now. Hey, random word generator! What do you think about giving school days off for Muslim holidays? What’s that? “Haystack satan album ink gallows gallery mouse garden”? Well said, random word generator! Well said indeed!
Major tests are the EASIEST thing to make up. It’s missing the lesson, the instruction, that’s a problem. You can’t move forward in the curriculum with that many kids gone.
I agree that “Holy Thursday” off seems crazy. But I’m in favor of closing for any event that pulls out 10% or more of kids, and making the day up later.
Depending on where you are, this is either two, three, or four children missing from any given class. I think a class can lurch along just fine with 90% attendance, though I’d say missing 20% of the students is too much.
The question is, which religious holidays (for any tradition) would really have caused a 10% drop in attendance, or (I think more reasonably) a 20% drop? I don’t know how the deeply religious operate. My parents would have sent me to school on Easter Sunday or on Christmas if it had been open, but it’s not like we ever went to church.
I believe I am a teacher, too. Not K–12, though, which makes a difference: if you’re looking for a reason to dismiss my opinion, you may do it on that basis, instead.
No, all religious holidays should be days off IF there is a sound educational reason that justifies it. “Reflecting Diversity” is a limitless and nebulous goal, that can be met in millions of ways, including HAVING school and scheduling special programs.
People who support DeBlasio’s decision seem to be finding their own reasons to justify it; attendance, or religious tolerance, or some sense of fairness. And I don’t care if schools are closed for those reasons. But the only justification in the OP and the article that started the thread was to “reflect diversity.”
The closest anyone has come to defending the mayor’s position was to claim that “reflecting diversity” can mean anything, and I conceded that, if true, well then, yeah. But I know what “reflect” means, and tomndebb was sweet enough to define “diversity”, so the mayor’s reason is clear, it’s just bad policy.
Grotonian, that’s the second time you’ve obliquely referred to another poster as a monkey. Insulting other posters is not allowed. This is your official warning. Don’t do it again.
The school calendar was set in such a way that schools were closed on a few days that are celebrated by teachers, administrators, and students who are Christians and Jews. The calendar has now been changed to add up to two more days to those days off in such a way as to permit the growing Muslim population, (already at 10% of the student population), to be given the same opportunities for celebration. The numbers of other religious groups have not yet gotten sufficiently large to be recognizable. Aside from scorning the word “diversity,” you have put forth no argument as to why that one significant section of the population should be treated differently than the other significant portions. The notion that kids in Boston would honor some “educationally sound principle” by getting off on Evacuation day is silly, (particularly since it was actually chosen to let the kids and teachers off to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in the ethnically Irish dominated Boston area).
You have already claimed that you believe the mayor announced the change because Muslims were complaining that Jews were getting holidays. You have also noted that you hold that belief without any evidence, at all, and have not since provided any reason why we should give any consideration to your personally held belief.
“Reflecting diversity” is nothing more than recognizing that the diversity exists; it is hardly a reason to get upset at a decision that corresponds to similar decisions made throughout the country by numerous school districts.
What is your actual position, beyond your vacillating hatred of the word “diversity”?
Are you claiming that the growing numbers of Muslim students and staff do not deserve to see their holy days recognized? Are you saying that we should compel the Christians and Jews to attend school on their holy days so that we can go find some different days off (or no days off) according to some vague and not defined “educationally sound principles” (like matching a coincidental date in history to an ethnic celebration in order to provide cover for the partying to begin during school hours)?
You’ve got to be joking. An oblique insult is no insult at all. But if that’s your standard, then I was not “obliquely” called a random word generator? Pretty subjective grading there, professor.
Moreover, an organ grinder traditionally has an assistant, not a monkey. Often it’s a child. Did you see Miller’s brilliant contributions to this thread? They serve no purpose other than to insult me. He is definitely acting as an assistant to Tomndebb. “Assistant” is not an insult, it simply describes his role.
Since “oblique” insults are verboten, I either want this warning removed or one issued to Miller for obliquely referring to me as a random word generator and one issued to tomndebb for obliquely referring to me as Todd Starnes of Fox News.
Or are oblique insults fine for mods, just not normal men?
That the calendar should be based on educationally sound principles, and DeBlasio never cited one. All the defenses posters want to mount of DeBlasio are fine, but those are not the justifications he gave.
Why on earth should that be? Seems to me the actual numbers of hours of classroom instruction, and the content of that instruction, are the only things that are based on “educationally sound principles.” Not the specific days.
No, I saw it. Did you read my warning? It was for an “oblique” insult. I also received “oblique” insults in this thread. Scroll up. If that’s the standard, I want it applied to everyone. Don’t you?
There were several places in this thread where your behavior - saying another poster is lying (making things up) for example - could have earned you a direct warning.
That I chose to softball the warning is my discretion and - I hope - an attempt to gently redirect both yourself and the thread into a productive direction. I hope you will continue to do so.
Now, enough with the hijack. On with the thread. If you feel you absolutely must complain to the management about moderation I encourage you to do so in About This Message Board.
Sorry for the formality, but I just got back from watching Kingsman and believe both that I need a new suit and that Colin Firth is my new role model.