Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is sending a warning to governors who are banning schools from requiring students to wear masks.
During a press conference at the White House on Thursday, Cardona was asked, âWhat is your message to governors like Gov. DeSantis of Florida and Gov. Abbott of Texas who have banned mask mandates?â
âDonât be the reason our schools are interrupted. Our kids have suffered enough,â he responded. âLetâs do what we know works across the country. Politics doesnât have a role in this. Educators know what to do. We did it last year.â
Finally, the education secretary said, âAt the end of the day, weâre talking about students being in classrooms. Theyâve suffered enough. Itâs time for them to be in the classroom without disruption to their learning.â
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In July, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky recommended that âeveryone in K through 12 schools wear a mask indoors, including teachers, staff, students and visitors, regardless of vaccination status.â
âChildren should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with proper prevention strategies in place,â she added.
In May, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said that schools could not require that students wear masks.
Last month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) also banned schools from issuing mask mandates.
The discussion comes as the country is recording an average of 96,036 new COVID-19 cases per day, a 131% increase from the previous 14 days.
President Joe Bidenrebuked governors who were not following public health guidelines during an event at the White House on Tuesday, as he said, âI say to these governors: Please help. But if you arenât going to help, at least get out of the way.â
âThe people are trying to do the right thing. Use your power to save lives,â he added.
