They're forced to have their immunizations up to date. They're forced to wear shoes. Why do you think masks shouldn't be mandatory?
Schools don’t teach “values”, and it would be impossible for public schools to accommodate every single culturally imposed value set. It is unconstitutional for a govt school to fall to the whims of any religious majority (local or otherwise), so what are they to do? The only choice is to teach all inclusively. What I think you are meaning is that some particularly outspoken parents essentially want segregation, but they don’t want to pay for private or theocratic school. They are too big guv for that. So they want segregation vouchers funded by taxpayers, in some cases where little Johnny doesn’t have to mingle with black kids, or they can pretend gay people don’t exist along with others who might share those “values” (if we want to call it that).
He’s fallen prey to the right wing political symbology that the mask represented… and he offers himself as an independent thinker (lol).
Are they still yelling at board meetings? No. No one is wearing masks anymore. I stated facts about the vouchers and you come back with a facetious response. If you can't answer honestly, then I guess we are done here. What's the point?
They can always look to DeSantis for inspiration. Can't remember the last Florida Governor who got smacked down as many times in a two-year period for violating the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause. He's truly impressive in his hostility to free speech.
Because kids are not at serious risk of COVID, and forcing all of them to wear masks has negative consequences on a developing child. Forcing kids to wear masks in school is putting the kids behind the feelings of parents and teachers (both of which should generally be safe considering the availability of vaccines and the waning seriousness of COVID) which is a backwards way of thinking.
I get the masking kids debate. But that wasn't just public schools so if it was abusive, it was done to private school kids as well. And I think DeSantis allowed private schools to make that decision.
Well then it's a lose/lose. He's damned if he prohibits masking in private schools and he's damned if he allows private schools to make that decision themselves.
I think reasonable people could disagree about mask policies given what we knew at the time. But if it amounted to child abuse to have kids mask, as many argued, then I don't know see how it would be okay for private schools to do it. But yeah, I'm glad it wasn't my decision to make. The health of teachers and others had to be considered as well.
It wouldn't be okay for private schools to do it. My point is that it was a political call. You don't think we would've heard cries of authoritarianism if he had banned masks from private schools? That's my point. I don't think it's fair to get upset with a politician for not doing something that you would've hated because he's basically acknowledging that it's a tough call.
Got to love Democrats who claim America was born into racism and that the Constitution is a racist document who also happen to love censorship lecturing everyone else on both the First Amendment of the Constitution and Free Speech. Never put it past Democrats to crap on the Constitution when it's an obstacle for their desired policies, then use it as a shield when Republicans pass policies they don't like.
Fair points. I can't remember specifically what DeSantis said about private schools having the option to require masks and public school districts not having any say. It does seem like a situation where the law doesn't match up with the rhetoric out there. As another example, I don't think the "don't say gay" bill applies to private schools. If the State of Florida really believes such instruction is sexually exploitative, abusive, and literally constitutes the sexual grooming of kids, why would the ban not apply to private schools as well? Is it okay to private school kids to be sexually groomed? I suspect most Florida politicians don't really believe the rhetoric. I also feel like there's an effort to hurt public schools and make things harder for public school teachers in an effort to foster more privatizing of K-12 education. That's just my belief and can't prove it absent some Project Veritas hidden mic effort.
To your first point, kids are indeed at low risk for Covid, but they can still contract and carry the virus to the more vulnerable. There are negative consequences on forcing them to wear masks, but needs must. Killing grandma would bear it's own negative consequences. Sickening the majority of teachers would have negative consequences. When I speak of the necessity of mandatory masks in schools, I refer to pre-vaccine times. Are they currently mandated? None of the public schools in my area still observe such.
Perhaps no one will. The point has been made, without the inevitable litigation that would ensue should a license actually be lost. That being, DeSantis has burnished his social conservative credentials, raised his profile with a non-issue, and made teachers out to be purveyors of perversion, needing a firm hand (his) to prevent the spread of said perversion.
