President Joe Biden has directed the head of the Education Department to use its civil rights policing authorities in order to block several Republican governors’ ban on mask mandates in schools.
“They’re setting a dangerous tone,” Biden said Wednesday about the Texas and Florida governors’ moves to ban masking in schools.
SCHOOL BOARDS FIGHT GOP GOVERNORS IN COURT OVER MASKING BANS
Biden directed Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to use “all available tools to ensure that governors and other officials are providing a safe return to in-person learning.” Cardona will invoke the authority of the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights to make the argument that banning the widespread use of masks on campuses violates the right to a free, safe, and fair education.
“The president is appalled, as I am, that there are adults who are blind to their blindness, that there are people who are putting policies in place that are putting students and staff at risk,” Cardona told the New York Times on Wednesday.
The governors of Florida and Texas have issued bans on mask mandates in schools, but parents and local districts leaders have fought back. For instance, six school districts in Texas have teamed up to sue Republican Gov. Greg Abbott for what they consider is government overreach, arguing that local masking policies should be decided by people living in a given area.
“At the end of the day, we shouldn’t be having this conversation,” Cardona said. “What we’re dealing with now is negligence.”
Cardona has been in contact with school district leaders in Florida and Texas who are concerned about the repercussions of defying their governor’s order, such as seeing their school’s funding plummet.
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Biden said Wednesday that the federal government will be ready to stand with school boards that defy the bans. For instance, if a school superintendent’s salary is threatened because of a mask mandate, federal coronavirus relief funding could be used. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has warned educators that those who violate the executive order banning the mandates could see their pay withheld. Biden said Wednesday that he will “have the backs of the states trying to do the right thing.”
“If you aren’t going to fight COVID-19, at least get out of the way of everyone else who’s trying,” Biden said. “We’re not going to sit by as governors try to block and intimidate educators protecting our children.”
