The latest coronavirus surge has ravaged the reddest, most unvaccinated parts of the nation
Whether students should be required to mask up as they head back to school is an issue top Republicans are battling in the school districts in their own states.
This has reignited ideological divides over mandates. The latest coronavirus surge has ravaged the reddest, most unvaccinated parts of the nation.
Republicans have opposed mask rules for more than a year now
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has issued an executive order threatening to cut funding from school districts that defy a statewide ban on classroom mask mandates while South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster is threatening to withhold funding to schools over masking rules, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott has vowed to enforce a similar order against mask mandates.
Republican gubernatorial candidate in the purple state of Virginia has condemned school mask mandates in the name of parental rights.
Republicans have opposed mask rules for more than a year now.
Some within the GOP’s ranks have begun to warn of the safety and political risks involved in making schools and children’s health the chief battleground for an ideological fight.
In Florida, and other places, like Leon County, plan to require students to wear masks.
Jasmine Burney-Clark, founder of the equal ground education fund, which has spent months helping facilitate vaccinations for Floridians, said “school boards across the state are saying, ‘We’re going to call your bluff, and we’re going to require mask mandates for our students.”
The push for bans against mask mandates runs counter to the traditional Republican political ethos of limited government and “local control,” or leaving decision-making on things like community ordinances and schools up to officials in the area.