Total Disrespect, School Board Cancels Veterans Day And Columbus Day

Stamford, Connecticut is rapidly becoming the armpit of a leftist state in education. They continue to make one bad decision after another regarding their children. Last week the school board voted 5-3 to remove both Veterans Day and Columbus Day from the school calendar, meaning students will no longer get the day off, the Stamford Advocate reported.

School Board member Joshua Esses made the motion to wipe the holidays from the school calendar at last Tuesday’s meeting. His lame argument was that the school year cut too far into the summer by ending in mid-June. Esses also suggested cutting the religious holidays Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim festival marking the end of the fast of Ramadan, and the second day of Rosh Hashanah from the list of official holidays with the same justification, but that motion received no support, the Advocate reported.

Esses stated, “We should make it shorter because it’s better educationally for our students.” Which is required by state law to have at least 180 teaching days for students, according to the local newspaper.

Esses added that Veterans Day and Columbus Day would both be recognized and celebrated with lesson plans about the meaning of each on the day of, which is a state requirement.

This has all the earmarks of leftist button pushing. It’s a well-known fact that the left disagrees with Columbus day in the same way they think reparations are fair. They have themselves convinced that anything, justified or not, that they find offensive they have a right to eliminate it. There are obviously other ways to have eliminated two off days, but liberals enjoy annoying people and ruining traditions.

For obvious reasons, this decision outraged people. Especially offended were veterans and those of Italian lineage. Veteran Alfred Fusco, a founding member of the Stamford chapter of the Italian American service organization UNICO, told ABC7, that the school district’s announcement was a double whammy.

“It was a gut punch. It was terrible. It had no inclination,” Fusco told the station.

A Stamford Public Schools spokesperson issued the following statement:

“Stamford Public Schools already hosts many events in recognition of our local veterans, and we look forward to continuing that tradition on Veterans’ Day in 2024 and 2025. In addition, our Teaching and Learning Department will be working to develop programming about Columbus Day that will be presented to students in recognition of that federal holiday.”

The debate surrounding Columbus day focuses on the particular role of Columbus himself. Celebrating him with a special day has been rejected by some Americans in recent years in favor of Indigenous People’s Day. The reason, the supposed sordid history surrounding the Italian explorer’s treatment of native peoples.

One board member, Versha Munshi-South, who uses the pronouns she/her on her LinkedIn account, said she observed a class lesson titled “Columbus: Hero or Villian?” at Dolan Middle School which made her rethink the holiday.

According to the Advocate, Munshi-South said:

“The students were using primary sources to investigate the true history of Columbus and I can tell you that based on primary source research, no, they did not conclude that Columbus was a hero. I don’t think it makes sense to teach students one thing in class and then have Columbus Day off. It’s a mixed message for students.”

Becky Hamman, another member of the board, disagrees with Munshi-South and the decision. She said she saw Columbus as a hero and thought polarization on the issue should not inform their decision.

“There’s a lot of polarization with curriculums, so to paint Columbus as a villain is because of the polarization and I think we can’t be doing that publicly.”

Local Republicans called the decision disappointing and shocking. Others called it an insult to those who served in the military.

The general public was also upset with the decision, and some vented their feelings.

“One word: DISGUSTING, to describe Stamford Connecticut. The very backwards, ignorant, and obvious communist school board has CANCELLED both Columbus day and Veterans day. The reason? They needed more school days for teaching. WHAT????”

Another wrote:

“The leftist town in Stamford Connecticut wants to eliminate Columbus Day and Veterans Day from the school calendar. This shows enormous disrespect to Italians and Veterans. These people are just like The Taliban, tearing down statues and erasing our History.”

It should be noted that the school chose to eliminate these two days, however students will still celebrate two Muslim holidays, and both black history and gay pride months.

The left, by picking and choosing what we celebrate, are dictating their terms to the American people. If my child attended any schools in this district, I would keep them home on those days in protest of this moronic move. They are better off avoiding the brainwashing of radical liberals that hate America, but love their hateful agenda.