should April 24th be a holiday

of course there's been a debate in the gnp on whether kids should get the day off from school - one armenian guy said - basically - look, my kids feel very strongly about it and they go to the events and protests - they don't sit at home and play xbox. and the non-armenians responded with - its a slippery slope - do we close schools everytime kids want to protest something? and its not an american holiday. our schools lose money. yada yada.

response:

Re: School's Should Leave Comfort Zone.



Several school districts throughout the United States have been handed off to private businesses because the district itself is not able to manage the schools. To be fair, the districts are not always to blame – dropping enrollment and depopulation of areas leads to fiscal problems that are beyond the districts control. Those concerns are not alien to our own district today.



But what does a private business do that a school district might not? I believe private businesses are able to make fiscally proactive decisions with less reliance on community politics.



When you have a large number of students not in class on a given day of the year, you are losing money. We can all sit around and discuss the politics of Genocide Recognition and the importance of being in school but at the end of the day, a large segment of this community feels strongly that missing math class one day of the year in order to stand up for and commemorate the memory of your great grandparents is a worthwhile trade-off.



Thus, the district has two choices – either accept that we are losing money and do something proactive to change it or listen to residents complain about the money that the district loses on April 24th each year. Once a person is able to remove their personal emotions from this debate they will realize that it is essentially a business decision (although of course I personally feel strongly about the symbolic importance of it as well).



As for the slippery slope suggestion; as a law student I have learned that "slippery slope" is always used as a cop out when someone doesn't want to take a stand. Don't be afraid to draw the line. For at least the last 10 years, GUSD has lost money on April 24th. This is much different than an unforeseen student protest against animal testing (which probably would not attract half the student population). Moreover, school districts across the country have embraced local holidays that reflect their student bodies. For example, although "Yom Kippur" is not like "Cesar Chavez Day" or any other "American" holiday, Beverly Hills High School students had October 2nd off last year (along with a spring break that coincided with Pesach).



Though it seems that the residents of Glendale are not quite ready to tackle this debate, I nevertheless encourage to consider it. The district will continue to feel the impact of the loss of revenue and the community has the opportunity to weigh in on our schools' future. The choice is ours.