Posted on 08/30/2021 11:31:34 AM PDT by Red Badger
The agency is investigating Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina,Tennessee and Utah.
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The Biden administration on Monday reportedly opened civil rights investigations into five GOP-led states for policies banning school districts from requiring COVID-19 masks.
Officials in the five states – Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina,Tennessee and Utah – were informed about the probe in a letter from the Education Department, according to The Washington Post.
Each of the states bars local school districts from mandating masks, intended to try to stop the spread of the reemerging virus.
The letter allege the states may be preventing districts from meeting the needs of students with disabilities who are at heightened risk for severe illness should they contract the novel coronavirus.
President Biden vowed earlier this month that the Education Department would use its authority to try to stop states from interfering with school districts that want to require masks – with school reopening for fall classes, the newspaper also reports.
The Republican governors, along with supporters such as some parents, argue that masking should be a personal choice for families to make.
"It’s simply unacceptable that state leaders are putting politics over the health and education of the students they took an oath to serve," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Monday. "The Department will fight to protect every student’s right to access in-person learning safely and the rights of local educators to put in place policies that allow all students to return to the classroom full-time in-person safely this fall."
The department did not open investigations in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida and Texas, all of which have tried to ban these mandates as well, because the mandates there are not currently being enforced as a result of court orders or other state actions, said the agency, according to The Post.
“Civil Rights”
Up to the states to answer back. Hopefully they DEMAND PROOF that masks work. That’ll send the Fascists into a tailspin.
Isn’t this backwards?
It should be a violation if you are FORCED to wear one
you can still wear one if you wish
That has to be the first time there has been a Civil Rights probe for allowing all people MORE freedom.
Strange. All states chosen have average or below-average rates of deaths due to coronavirus.
LOL
Spoke with my state rep. this morning.
Oklahoma has a version of Montana HR702 ready.
So it’s civil rights demanding I wear a mask? Mine is a full facial version. It’s hood shaped. OK.
Florida is the state where the Left is going bonkers screaming about how deadly the state’s anti-masking policy is. Looks like death from coronavirus are down about 75% in the last two weeks, although I’m cautious that some of the data may be incomplete. Usually, worldometers gets sources that don’t have such a delay, but might this be beyond them?
Certainly the claim that “Florida leads all states in coronavirus death rates” is absurd. Northeastern states all still lead by enormous margins.
Unreal. South Carolina ping...
Does Dimbulb Joe know that these mandates do not prohibit anybody from wearing those bacteria-laden snotrags? If good little submissive lemmings wish to cover their breathing holes, they are allowed to.
There is no civil rights violation in state governments banning schools from forcing those vile things on our children.
We are protecting your right to have us require you and your kids to wear masks.
ESPECIALLY if you are disabled.
👍
“Civil rights” is an absolutely destroyed term.
I don’t think ANY states have said people CAN’T wear masks.
They can wear masks if they want to, so there is no violation of civil rights. They will slow-walk these “investigations”, because they know that no court side with the Biden side.
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