The following is an excerpt from 01/29/24 Education Week:

By Sarah Elia

Sarah Elia is an English-as-a-new-language teacher in the Saugerties, N.Y., school district. She sometimes also teaches Chinese enrichment classes to elementary students.

New York announced last fall that all its public schools will have a day off for Lunar New Year starting in the coming school year. Schools in the Empire State will thus be joining those in districts in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, and elsewhere that already officially recognize the holiday. The day off for students is part of growing school attention to a celebration important in many Asian nations and among people of Asian descent in the United States.

For more information: Read the full 01/29/24 Education Week opinion piece.