Superintendents at Phoenix Union High School District in Arizona and Broward County Schools in Florida got calls from President Biden yesterday. He thanked them for the mask mandates they've imposed in defiance of their governors. Well, technically, their "shared commitment to getting students back for full-time in-person classes this school year," according to Politico.
Arizona's Governor Doug Ducey has said that mask mandates are “toothless, unenforceable and will not hold up in court.” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has gone farther, threatening to stop paying the salaries of superintendents and school board members who defy him, plus impose many thousands of dollars in fines.
The White House didn't just blow kisses. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona wrote to DeSantis and his state education secretary, saying his department would pay the salaries of the school officials whose livelihoods had been threatened.
Biden could have thanked many more school officials. In Texas, for instance, well over three dozen school districts are requiring kids, staffers, and visitors to mask up despite Governor Greg Abbott's banning mask mandates of any kind.
Mask mandates fight a continuing spike in child COVID infections. Broward County's Joe DeMaggio Hospital for children reported that they'd treated 20 kids for COVID in June and more than 240 in July, with no signs of a slowdown.
Politico.com: Biden Praises Superintendents for School District Mask Mandates
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