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This week’s R&D is on the debate over school mask mandates. While some states like South Carolina and Texas have prohibited schools from setting mask requirements, others like California and New Mexico will require them. The fight has become a grassroots battle over local education policy going into the 2021-2022 school year.
One of the first in the U.S. to start a new school year, Arizona provides an early indication of how mask-wearing could play out across the country https://t.co/j7Xh8n2ZSy
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 4, 2021
Read more about how students are adjusting to masks in school from @melissagomez004 at https://t.co/1alTkUmAXX
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) August 3, 2021
Arkansas is one of a handful that blocked school districts from mandating the use of masks in schools. Within days of reopening, hundreds were quarantined. https://t.co/ERPlCfabpT
— U.S. News & World Report (@usnews) August 5, 2021
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has a message for schools across the country ahead of the new school year: Students need to be in classrooms. https://t.co/tbPepc7Lia
— NPR (@NPR) August 2, 2021
The president — calling out Texas and Florida — criticized state measures that penalize schools and businesses for requiring masks or vaccines. He also encouraged cities to mandate vaccinations for people to enter public places. https://t.co/dvRWwfcsDJ
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 4, 2021
About 300 parents — many with kids in tow — spent Wednesday morning protesting Jeffco Public Schools’ decision to require students ages 3 to 11 to wear masks in classrooms to start the upcoming school year. https://t.co/bMb7QvMkdi
— The Denver Post (@denverpost) August 5, 2021
Effective immediately, masks are required for indoor high school sports in Illinois regardless of a person’s vaccination status.https://t.co/VE3R03I1Gp
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) August 5, 2021
As kids head back to school this month, vaccination rates among adolescents tend to be lower in states that have banned mask mandates in schools than in states that will require masks in schools, a new CNN analysis finds. https://t.co/YL1d93QcQr
— CNN (@CNN) August 5, 2021
The Orange County Board of Education — which last year unsuccessfully sued Gov. Gavin Newsom to reopen schools — has voted to challenge him again over a state mandate requiring K-12 students to wear masks in classrooms and other indoor campus facilities. https://t.co/E53iE5tzZ4
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) August 4, 2021
Masks will be required in Illinois schools for preschool through high school students and staff, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced. https://t.co/UU1MNzL7vP
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) August 4, 2021
The controversy is unfolding at a time when many Americans are at their wits’ end with pandemic restrictions and others fear their children will be put at risk by those who don’t take the virus seriously enough. https://t.co/2NdkGGVFUi
— Education Week (@educationweek) August 4, 2021