Let me be clear: Any state that prevents school districts from mandating masks for students and teachers is displaying extreme indifference to human life and public health, as well as overriding local control of schools. In my view, every state should mandate masking when indoors in public spaces.
The Los Angeles Times reported that most states are leaving the mask decisions to school districts but eight Republican-led states have banned mask mandates, prohibiting districts from protecting those in their schools.
More than 30 states have left the decision up to school districts. At least 10 states, including California, plus the District of Columbia, require all students and teachers to wear masks in public schools.
But eight mostly Republican-controlled states — Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Florida, South Carolina, Texas and Utah — have enacted laws or issued executive orders prohibiting school districts from requiring students to wear masks.
CNN reported the latest development in Texas, where the highly contagious Delta variant is filling hospitals.
The Texas Supreme Court, undoubtedly dominated by conservative governors like Abbott and Rick Perry, just endorsed Abbott’s efforts to undermine public health in schools. Why do “conservatives” take such reckless, radical actions that put the lives of students and school staff at risk?
The Texas Supreme Court sided with Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday in a ruling that temporarily blocks mask mandates recently issued in San Antonio and Dallas, though local officials said they will continue to enforce at least a portion of the mask mandates.The Texas high court granted stay orders Sunday, but previously scheduled hearings on local mask mandates in lower courts in Bexar and Dallas counties will proceed as scheduled.The ruling is the latest in a series of conflicts across the state — and the country — over mask mandates as coronavirus cases surge and schools gear up for reopening while students younger than 12 still aren’t ineligible for a Covid-19 vaccine.
Abbott issued an executive order last month that barred governmental entities, including school districts, from requiring mask wearing. Officials in Dallas and Bexar counties, which includes San Antonio, requested restraining orders against enforcement of Abbott’s order, which were granted.
Two Texas judges issue temporary restraining orders against governor’s mask mandate order Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Friday he appealed the lower court rulings to the Texas Supreme Court and tweeted after the court decision Sunday, “Let this ruling serve as a reminder to all ISDs and Local officials that the Governor’s order stands.”
Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, however, said the court’s ruling does not pertain to his district, even as Paxtonmentioned the Dallas ISD in his tweet.
Rubles from Russia?
I think they have a mindset of “if I don’t see it myself and it doesn’t affect me personally, it doesn’t exist.” And considering how wealthy and inaccessible many of those folks are, it’s no wonder they don’t see a problem.
I go back to tutoring work after self-quarantining today, and I’m VERY glad I went online and bought more masks. I gotta be in close quarters with some of those very kids I’m sure aren’t gonna be wearing face masks at school, if they do already (hell, some have to be cajoled into wearing them anyway during the 30 minutes they’re with me or my coworkers). I’ve got enough I can wash them and have fresh ones every day. I’ll be bringing my latex gloves, too, because no way am I gonna touch a pencil some kid probably just shoved into their maskless mouth as they pondered an answer to a homework question.
Sheesh, I woke up with a ball of lead in my stomach and feeling anxious. Maybe I knew this was coming all along.
The paranoid part of me thinks this a GOP effort to accelerate the exodus from public schools.
The non paranoid part of me thinks that the GOP knows that vaccination rates are far lower in minority communities than in Trump country . Whether that is NY, Maryland or Alabama……
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/maryland-zipcode-lowest-vaccination-covid/2021/08/13/5f71b206-f499-11eb-9738-8395ec2a44e7_story.html
and I am betting that the big money strategists pulling the political strings know that keeping their base voters on edge about any crazy issue means a better chance at taking back seats in 2022
I do not think you are paranoid. How many public schools are schools of color. What are private schools doing. The other question I have is, How many older Republican voters is DeSantis killing off whlle pretending he is about freedom to “choose. Frankly his freedom ends at the beginning of my nose.
What I wonder is —
Why Is The Whole &^%$#@! Teaching Profession Not On A &^%$#@! Nationwide Walk Out Stay The &^%$#@! Home Strike ???
I can only answer for my own experience. We are not yet experienceing large numbers of infections i school. Many of my fellow teachers do not see this pandemic as a threat that is as large as others of us think that it is. There is not unity within teaching any more than there is unity in other thinking in the country. I would say that a majority of teachers in my county voted for Trump.
We are, however, experiencing elevated numbers of hospitalized covid patients in the general population, so school cannot be too far away. A former student who works in a local hospital said their capacity was limited now.
Answer:
GAGAGGs!
The school superintendent from San Antonio gave an interview in which he said it is the job of the local school board, not the governor, to keep students safe. Superintendent Martinez said that several lawyers concurred with his decision to mandate masks. Instead of fighting in court, Texas should be focused on the health and well-being of the young people in the state.
“In my view, every state should mandate masking when indoors in public spaces.”
With the Delta variant that will not be enough. Outdoor spaces along with social distancing should be included.
Sorry Mr. Dwight…
And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing what to cling to
When the orders came in
And you could’ve learned to know how
But you were just a kid
State lessons burns the conscience out
Long before debt ever did…
Whatever happened to local control? Why even bother to have Boards of Education? Why even bother to have School Superintendents.
Abbott is just interested in his political career. To hell with all the people for which he took an oath of office to support in every possible. He is supporting the people of Texas, including Students, Teachers, and Administrators in a totally negative way.
How many more people have to die until Abbott the Fool gets run out of office? Someone needs to start a spread sheet listing all the schools in Texass (not a mistake) to keep track of the Students and Teachers that get sick and die from COVID during the coming school year.
I am curious about ICU space. As an older heart patient, I must weigh my chances when considering my winter stay near Titusville. Because the governor is so enamored of his big government control of local
school boards, he apparently is not considering the implications economically.
I wonder when the same 8 GOP states will forbid parents from keeping their children safe at home and punish those parents with fines and jail time if they refuse, taking their children away from them.
No, here in Arizona our wonderful governor is paying families to pull their kids from the schools that require masks in defiance of his orders. It’s like a sick joke.