The Education Department announced Monday that it is investigating five Republican-led states blocking local school districts from requiring masks to protect against the coronavirus, claiming the policies discriminate against students with health conditions and disabilities.
The DOE’s Office for Civil Rights sent letters to education chiefs in Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said the department has heard from parents across the country about how state bans on universal indoor masking are “putting their children at risk and preventing them from accessing in-person learning equally.”
“It’s simply unacceptable that state leaders are putting politics over the health and education of the students they took an oath to serve,” Cardona said in a statement. “The department will fight to protect every student’s right to access in-person learning safely.”
JUDGE ENDS FLORIDA GOV. DESANTIS’S BAN ON SCHOOL MASK MANDATES
Monday’s move injects the federal government into the center of a contentious state and local debate over how to safely return to in-person learning amid a surge of the highly contagious delta variant in several states.
The policies of the five states singled out by the DOE conflict with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends universal mask wearing for students and teachers in the classroom.
Specifically, the targeted investigation will determine whether the states’ policies violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, under which schools are required to provide a free and adequate public education to students with disabilities.
If the civil rights investigation finds that the mask mandate bans have led to discrimination against some students, it could lead to sanctions, including a sharp reduction in federal funding.
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The move had been expected following President Biden’s comments last week that he directed the DOE to use its broad powers, which include legal action, to deter states from issuing bans on mask mandates.
“We are not going to sit by as governors try to block and intimidate educators protecting our children,” he said from the East Room of the White House.
The Education Department did not launch investigations into other states that have prohibited mask mandates, such as Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, and Texas, because those states have either suspended enforcement voluntarily or as the result of court action.
A judge in Florida recently ruled that the state overstepped its authority by prohibiting local mask requirements.
However, even in states that require masks, a student or staff member can opt out with a documented medical exemption.
