Republican Governor. Ron DeSantis, Florida's Republican Governor, has threatened to reduce funding for school districts that violate a ban on mandated classroom masks. His office is now proposing that it could order officials to withhold salaries from those who enforce such rules.
Governor of South Carolina Henry McMaster threatens to withhold funding for schools in Columbia, his state capital, over masking rules. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to enforce a similar order against mask mandates -- despite large school districts around the state, including Dallas and Austin, promising to go ahead with classroom face covering requirements.
Even the Republican candidate for governor in Virginia has condemned school mask mandates as a violation of parental rights.
Republicans have clear political incentives to adopt this position. For more than a year, the party's base opposed mask rules and long resisted the idea of "mandate". However, some Republicans have started to warn about the political and safety risks associated with making schools and children's lives the main battleground in an ideological struggle.
Brendan Steinhauser from Texas, a Republican strategist, said that it is very visceral. He said that "we're approaching it very tribalistically, very angrily and very politically."
Local school meetings have been packed with the issue, resulting in heated exchanges. A video of a Williamson County meeting showed parents shouting obscenities and following mask supporters to a parking lot. Madison Cawthorn (Republican-Electual) was recently present to protest masking rules in his district. He called them "nothing but psychological child abuse"
This is because some Democrat-run States are moving in the other direction. They impose masking rules in classrooms and public spaces, after easing them in recent month, when it appeared the pandemic was waning.
That's consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations that children mask up in school. The American Academy of Pediatrics and Children's Hospital Association recently reported that almost 4.3 million U.S. COVID-19 children have been affected. This represents 14% of all cases in the United States, but it is not common for children to be hospitalized or die.
In Florida, which has seen cases and hospitalizations rise sharply, some school districts are suing to oppose DeSantis' order. Others, like Leon County, which includes the state capital of Tallahassee, plan to require students to wear masks regardless. In a letter to Governor Rocky Hanna, Superintendent Rocky Hanna stated that his district wanted "the flexibility as well as the autonomy to make decisions about our schools."
Hanna stated that "unfortunately, it has been well-politicized" in an announcement of his decision. Hanna also said that if things went wrong as school starts anew, "and God forbid we lose a child due to this virus," he couldn't blame the governor of Florida.
Jasmine Burney Clark, founder of Equal Ground Education Fund which spent months helping to facilitate vaccinations for Floridians said, "School boards across the state say, 'We are going to call your Bluff, and we will require mask mandates to our students.'
Burney-Clark stated that districts have been telling DeSantis, "You're not leading so, if schools are to open, here is what you need to be doing."
Some people have pointed out that the push to ban mask mandates is contrary to the Republican political ethos, which advocates for limited government and "local control," leaving decisions on such things as schools and community ordinances up to local officials.
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (Republican from Louisiana) said that he opposed DeSantis' orders to school mask mandates. He stated on CNN Sunday that "The local official should have the control here."
One Republican governor has resigned. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchison called Arkansas's legislators into special session to discuss loosening the ban on mask mandates, which he now regrets signing in April. The ban has been temporarily blocked by a judge.
However, not all school districts push for mask mandates. After Kentucky Democratic Governor. Andy Beshear ordered masking rules in his state's schools, some superintendents applauded. One voicemail to parents criticized the governor for being a "liberal lunatic", and said that the professional opinion of his superintendent didn't matter. Your school board's opinion doesn't matter.
In Virginia, Gov. Ralph Northam (Democrat) argues that the CDC’s recent recommendations serve as a defacto mask mandate for schools, since a March state law requires conforming to federal guidance. Glenn Youngkin, Republican candidate for governor, has pledged not to require masks in schools if elected. He said, "This should be a choice that parents can make."
Youngkin, unlike DeSantis and Abbott, has emphasized his business experience as an ex-private equity manager over his loyalty to Donald Trump. This is no surprise considering that Joe Biden won the state by 10 points. His comments demonstrate that the opposition to Trump has grown beyond the ardent pro-Trumpers.
Monmouth University polling last week showed that 73% of Republicans opposed bringing back social distancing and masking guidelines. However, 85% of Democrats support it. The deepest division was among independents, with 42% supporting and 55% opposing.
Monmouth's polling director Patrick Murray said that Republican mask opposition has "expanded beyond the people you see initially at Trump rallies." He also pointed out that the party's members have assimilated the message of former President Trump so that many of the "moderate Republicans" in the past are now almost in lockstep with Trump on nearly every issue.
There may be more support for masks in schools. Gallup's late July survey found that 57% parents of school-aged children support mask mandates for unvaccinated students. Elementary schools are dominated by these students, as vaccines are available only to people over 12.
RAND Corporation's May poll found that these attitudes are strongly influenced by racial differences. 86% of Black parents, 78% Hispanic parents, and 89% Asian parents felt that mask mandates were necessary for their children and adults to feel safe sending them off to school. This compares to 53% of white parents.
Heather Schwartz, a senior RAND policy researcher, stated that one reason for these differences could be because parents living in rural areas are more likely than white parents to oppose anti COVID measures. She said that the virus has killed minority Americans at a higher rate than whites.
This survey also found that 26% and 29% of white parents thought schools should return to normal by fall. Schwartz stated that some respondents said things such as "the government doesn’t need to tell me what to do" when responding to the survey.
Schwartz stated that there is a general masking attitude that has spread to schools, rather than the opposite.
