By Alex Robinson
U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing) has renewed a call to make Lunar New Year a school holiday.
Meng introduced a resolution in Congress last week that would encourage the creation of a school holiday for the Asian-American celebration, which will be marked Jan. 31. The congressional resolution would recommend that local education authorities that serve predominantly Asian-American communities close their schools for the day.
“It’s the most important holiday of the year for the Asian-American community and Asian-American students should not be forced to choose between celebrating with family or missing school,” Meng said. “Students of many other cultures and ethnicities rightly have off for the most important holidays they observe, and kids who celebrate Lunar New Year should be afforded the same.”
The Lunar New Year is the main holiday for many East Asians and falls on a different day every year, as it follows the lunar calendar. This year it will fall on Friday, Jan. 31.
More than 15 percent of New York City’s student population in the public school system is Asian American, according to the city Department of Education. In the city, students who miss school due to Lunar New Year celebrations receive an excused absence, but still have the absence marked on their record.
Meng said that elsewhere in the state and country, Asian-American students suffer from not being able to take the holiday off since they are marked absent and could miss exams and quizzes while they are out.
The congresswoman argued that closing public schools in predominantly Asian-American communities would also save wasted government resources spent by keeping schools open when many students and teachers would be absent.
A number of lawmakers have tried to pass legislation that would make Lunar New Year a holiday in the past and failed.
In 2009 and 2011, Meng introduced legislation in the state Assembly to establish a school holiday for the Lunar New Year, but her measures were never voted on. She also sponsored legislation that would require boards of education to close school on days when student attendance would likely be low because of holidays.
The congresswoman said she pushed then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg to close the city’s public schools for the holiday.
Since the measure Meng is currently proposing is a congressional resolution and not a bill, if passed it would not carry any legal authority and would only serve to express a position on the topic.
Reach reporter Alex Robinson by e-mail at arobinson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
