The Foul Politics of Sending Children to School During a Pandemic
Republicans are trying to kill children with their poor public health policies. Democrats need to better stress that to the public.
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A lot of children are going to get sick and potentially die because some politicians believe gambling with the lives of kids is permissible when in pursuit of the presidency.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference on Wednesday at a St. Petersburg elementary school to threaten those in his state’s school districts that fail to abide by his executive order barring mask mandates in school. Two of those counties in question, Alachua and Leon, reportedly received a letter from state education commissioner Richard Corcoran earlier this week that read in part, “Depending on the facts presented, I may recommend to the State Board of Education that the department withhold funds in an amount equal to the salaries for the superintendent and all the members of the school board.”
“We’re gonna do whatever we can to vindicate the rights of parents,” DeSantis explained at the news conference.
According to him, with respect to requiring kids to wear masks in order not to spread disease and death, “the parent rather than the government should ultimately be able to make that decision.”
If parents aren’t allowed to set any other safety parameters at a public school, why they should have the final say over how to stop the spread of a plague on public property confuses me. But keeping in the spirit of willful ignorance and abdication of duty, when asked if the state of which he is unfortunately in control will be keeping track of Covid-19 cases in schools and subsequently make that data available, DeSantis answered, “I’ll have to ask the Department of Health, in terms of are they are going to do school-based.”
Given his gross disregard for public health, I’m surprised DeSantis didn’t flat out just say, “No, I don’t care how many kids die unless it impacts my poll numbers.” That’s clearly how he feels. Meanwhile, Florida’s Covid-19 cases continue to skyrocket and directly impact the children DeSantis claims don’t need to be required to wear a mask.
