As cases of Covid-19 are once again on the rise in the United States, President Joe Biden is playing tough with Republican governors who oppose mandatory masks in schools, instructing his secretary of education to use all available means to protect children.
With his announcement Wednesday that he was directing the Department of Education to use “all available tools to ensure that governors and other officials are providing a safe return to in-person learning for the nation’s children”, Biden threw the first punch in the fight with state Republicans who oppose mask mandates in schools.
“If you aren’t going to fight Covid-19, at least get out of the way of everyone else who’s trying,” he scolded Republican governors who were prohibiting school districts in their states from requiring that students wear masks in class. “We’re not going to sit by as governors try to block and intimidate educators protecting our children.”
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona got more specific about the administration’s plan of attack, saying he may use the department’s civil rights arm to fight anti-mask mandate policies in Florida, Texas, Iowa and other Republican-led states that have forbidden public schools from requiring masks in classrooms. In total, seven states have banned school districts from requiring masks, though Texas announced late Thursday that it would stop enforcing its ban because of ongoing court challenges.
Using civil rights laws against states in such a public manner would be a muscular maneuver – and a somewhat unusual one.
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