In defiance of the Biden administration and its increasingly discredited Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order banning mask mandates in all of the state’s government schools.
Ridiculing the Biden administration’s “unscientific and inconsistent recommendations” regarding the use of face masks, the popular Sunshine State governor said it would be up to parents whether to force their children to cover their mouths and noses all day.
Multiple Biden officials have pointed to what they claim is “science” as the justification for re-imposing the infamous and widely hated “face diapers” on the population. Indeed, despite promising that those receiving the experimental COVID injections could lose the masks, that has now been reversed.
In his executive order 21-175, DeSantis cited his own science. Among other example, he pointed to a Brown University study showing there was “no correlation” between masks and COVID in Florida schools. He also pointed to studies show a low risk of children contracting a serious case of COVID.
“There is no statistically-significant evidence to suggest that counties with mask requirements have fared any better than those without mask requirements during the 2020-2021 school year,” DeSantis said in his order forbidding mask mandates by local districts, noting that Florida’s surgeon general has warned of adverse consequences of face coverings.
On top of that, the Florida governor, a Republican widely viewed as a 2024 presidential candidate, noted that “masking children may lead to negative health and societal ramifications.” It also inhibits breathing, leads to dangerous pathogens being breathed in by those children, and adversely affects communication and performance.
In any case, parents have the right to make medical decisions for their children, not bureaucrats and government officials.
“Given the historical data on COVID-19 and the ongoing debate over whether masks are more harmful than beneficial to children and to school environments in general, we should protect the freedoms and statutory rights of students and parents by resting with the parents the decision whether their children should wear masks in school,” DeSantis said in his order.
As part of the order, the DeSantis administration threatened to withhold state funds from districts that decide to trample on parental rights and force children to wear face masks.
By contrast, Biden’s “Education Secretary” Miguel Cardona, calling government schools a “second families,” urged all government indoctrination camps to mandate masks for everyone. He pointed to CDC guidance calling for “universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status.”
School boards run by far-left activists in South Florida were upset by DeSantis’ order. The Broward County School Board, for instance, said it was “reviewing” the Executive Order and was “considering what adjustments may be necessary to make to our face covering policy.”
Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, meanwhile, said he wanted a “balance” between obeying the governor and “protecting” the district by imposing masks on children. “We certainly hope to be able to craft protocols that ensure full funding of our children’s education, while simultaneously protecting their and their teachers’ health and well-being,” he said.
Ironically, the government has backed itself into a corner—no matter what, parents will be upset and many will choose to keep their children home from the indoctrination centers posing as schools. That is great news for those children and families who will instead pursue homeschooling or private options. Thanks Biden!
