Just today (!), Ducey in AZ/DeSantis in FL, Abbott in TX have all escalated their attacks on blue city mask or vaccine mandates. Latest: "TX AG Paxton asked the TX Supreme Court Tuesday to overrule a Travis County judge who allowed mask mandates to proceed in any school district" https://t.co/cdj6eQkNY7
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) August 17, 2021
Unreal. Florida is now threatening penalties against school districts over mask mandates, per DeSantis' threats.https://t.co/9zd3NNPUCv
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) August 18, 2021
It's time Biden and national Dems speak/act more directly on behalf of these folks. They can't be abandoned to face this derangement alone. https://t.co/AML5LB7LYF
Mayor Romero calls Gov. Ducey's move to give $163M grant to schools without mask mandates 'absolutely evil and grotesque' https://t.co/8Ev0pDdlYb
— KVOA News 4 Tucson (@KVOA) August 17, 2021
In Opinion
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 18, 2021
“There is good reason to believe that wearing a mask at school could actually improve certain social and cognitive skills,” writes Judith Danovitch, a psychologist who studies child development, in a guest essay.https://t.co/rJYEaHeo0f
BREAKING: A Texas school board has found a loophole in Greg Abbott's ban on school mask mandates by instead adding masks to the district's dress code.
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) August 18, 2021
Arizona GOP Gov. Doug Ducey said the state would use federal Covid-19 relief money to increase the funding available to public school districts only if they're open for in-person learning and don't require children to wear masks https://t.co/dyuoRHf4rR
— CNN (@CNN) August 18, 2021
Florida's State Board of Education voted unanimously at an emergency meeting to recommend investigations into two school districts whose mask mandates defy Gov. Ron DeSantis. https://t.co/nCAh8X4im8
— CNN (@CNN) August 18, 2021
This is authoritarian. FL St Board of Ed “Emerg Meeting’ tonight to discipline Alachua Schools for requiring masks. Desantis attack dog Tom Grady grousing about how much national press this has gotten and saying to Alachua witness, “I wonder’s who’s paying for all that?” Audio pic.twitter.com/9MQtBomJjx
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 17, 2021
TN Gov Bill Lee joins Ron Desantis and Greg Abbott by signing an Executive Order yesterday prohibiting schools from requiring masks. pic.twitter.com/oJgfIad9Ox
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 17, 2021
Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee signed an executive order on Tuesday allowing parents to opt their children out of mask mandates at school. The state is one of several where a Republican governor opposes mask mandates that are supported by school officials. https://t.co/v6P14iiAr9
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 16, 2021
A dad at Sutter Creek Elementary School in Amador, CA, irate over mask mandates, beat up a teacher and sent him to the hospital on the first day of school this week. pic.twitter.com/QSYIrcbSrX
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 15, 2021
An entirely Republican, deeply ideological TX Supreme Court waits at the finish line of these legal confrontations. Its ultimate decision will measure how committed the state GOP is to shred school mask mandates when the Dallas area, for instance, has no pediatric ICU beds left https://t.co/kU5cOoc9f7
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) August 14, 2021
“There’s a couple hundred people every night outside of my house screaming curse words at my children.”
— The Recount (@therecount) August 13, 2021
— Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins on reaction to his emergency order requiring masks in all public schools, after securing restraining order against Gov. Abbott’s (R-TX) ban. pic.twitter.com/SHA2Dar5Q4
Stunning: While @GregAbbott_TX is in court trying to block school mask mandates, Dallas-area "hospitals are reporting fewer and fewer empty beds — including no available ICU beds for children in the region." https://t.co/zz8KwL9XSk
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) August 13, 2021
Schools are open. Masks are off. GA vax rates are low. @GaDPH is absent. @GovKemp is politicking. https://t.co/HY3JPGhgFE
— Melanie Thompson (@drmt) August 12, 2021
Biden today warning of possible legal action from Ed Department against red state governors blocking mask mandates marks a significant adjustment of his position, if administration follows through. https://t.co/rJpmCSfMV7
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) August 18, 2021
And now Hillsborough County (Tampa) also votes to impose a 30-day mask mandate in schools-in direct defiance of DeSantis. More evidence school masks have truly become the "breaking point" in endemic blue city/red state conflict. https://t.co/oCnxj91adZ https://t.co/Y1JJhVDlC7
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) August 18, 2021
Sad! 