The 2021-22 school year is here, and with the US once more facing an out-of-control surge of Covid-19 cases, the fight over public health measures in schools is reaching a fever pitch as K-12 students head back into classrooms.
Republicans in at least eight states are taking a hard line against classroom mask requirements, contrary to federal public health guidance — and increasingly, individual school districts, with the support of the Biden administration, are moving to mandate masks anyway to protect their students.
In Texas and Florida, the two largest states to block school mask mandates outright, the school year has already gotten off to a bad start. More and more students and teachers in both states are testing positive for the virus, and some school districts have been forced to shut down entirely.
Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah have all prohibited mask mandates in schools, according to Politico, though in Texas that ban is currently not in effect pending further litigation.
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