拜登政府的教育部周一启动了民权运动对五个州的调查这使得学校强制要求戴口罩成为违法行为，指控州长正在为残疾学生创造一个不安全的学习环境高风险患有严重疾病新冠肺炎。
这是拜登政府的一项激进的新法律策略，旨在挑战坚持室内口罩禁令不起作用的共和党州长。
“我们提倡地方决策健康教育部长米格尔·卡多纳在美国广播公司新闻直播节目《崩溃》中告诉美国广播公司新闻高级国家记者特里·莫兰。"
卡多纳补充说:“我们知道这是可行的，我们的政治阻碍了事情的发展。“不幸的是，学生们最终没有去上学，因为他们的父母觉得送他们去学校不舒服。我们认为这是一种违规行为，并认为所有学生都应该能够以安全的方式在全国范围内进行面对面的学习。”
教育部的调查对象是爱荷华州、俄克拉荷马州、南卡罗来纳州、田纳西州和犹他州。教育部表示，目前不包括佛罗里达州、得克萨斯州、阿肯色州和亚利桑那州，“因为这些州对通用室内遮蔽的禁令目前没有因法院命令或其他州的行动而得到执行。"
疾病控制和预防中心发现，如果学生和工作人员普遍戴口罩，学校通常是安全的。今年与新冠肺炎疫情作斗争的学区——经常把成千上万的孩子送回家隔离——通常不需要口罩，尽管周围社区的病例很多。
尽管如此，许多共和党政客认为，戴口罩应该由父母决定，并颁布了禁止或限制授权的法律。例如，在犹他州，学校强制要求戴口罩是违法的，尽管当地县卫生部门可以订购。即便如此，地方立法机构也可以推翻卫生部的命令，基本上把决定权留给政治家。
批评这种方法的人说，法律让学校很难确保学生的安全。但是犹他州公共教育主管悉尼·迪克森说，犹他州的程序正在发挥作用，他们不相信教育部的调查适用。
迪克森在一份声明中说:“虽然我们赞赏(教育部)为保护儿童，特别是残疾学生所做的努力，但我们认为他们不公平地将犹他州定义为一个不能实施口罩强制令的州。“州法律将这些决定交由地方卫生部门和地方选举产生的官员在地方一级做出。我们已经在几个县见证了这一过程，目前盐湖城和格兰德县学区已经制定了室内口罩的要求。”
在佛罗里达州，州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯威胁说扣留工资尽管拜登政府敦促这些学校在发生这种情况时使用联邦救济金。
卡多纳坚持认为，关于调查各州的最新声明不是政治性的，而是公共卫生问题。
“我想与德桑蒂斯州长和其他州长合作，为我们的学生做正确的事情，”卡多纳说。“佛罗里达的学生也是我的学生。说到底，我要相信以此为生的医生和健康专家，他们会指导我们安全的学校重新开学。”
俄克拉荷马州和南卡罗来纳州的高级教育官员表示支持拜登政府对他们州的学校和口罩进行调查。
俄克拉荷马州学校主管乔伊·霍夫梅斯特(Joy Hofmeister)周一在一份声明中表示，该州禁止口罩要求的法律“正在阻止学校履行其法律义务，保护并为所有学生提供更安全地面对面学习的机会。”
同样，南卡罗来纳州教育主管莫莉·斯皮尔曼(Molly Spearman)在一份声明中表示，她一再“恳求”立法机构重新考虑反口罩法，“并允许当地学校董事会做出影响其所服务学生健康和福祉的决定。”
爱荷华州和田纳西州的教育部门表示，他们仍在审查卡多纳的信。
5 GOP-led states' indoor mask bans face federal civil rights investigations
The Biden administration's Education Department on Monday launched civil rightsinvestigations into five statesthat have made it illegal for schools to mandate masks, alleging that the governors are creating an unsafe learning environment for students with disabilities atheightened riskof severe illness fromCOVID-19.
It's an aggressive new legal strategy from the Biden administration to challenge Republican governors who insist indoor mask mandates don't work.
"We're advocating for local decision-making withhealthexperts as partners to reopen schools," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told ABC News Senior National Correspondent Terry Moran on ABC News Live's "The Breakdown."
"We know that's what works, and we have politics getting in the way of things," Cardona added. "Unfortunately, students are ending up not going to school because their parents don't feel comfortable sending them to school. We feel that's a violation and feel that all students should have access to in-person learning across the country in a manner that's safe."
The Education Department investigations target Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah. The Education Department said it is not including Florida, Texas, Arkansas and Arizona at this time "because those states' bans on universal indoor masking are not currently being enforced as a result of court orders or other state actions."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that schools are generally safe if students and staff universally wear masks. School districts that struggled with COVID-19 outbreaks this year -- oftentimes sending thousands of kids home to quarantine -- often did not require masks, despite high cases in the surrounding community.
Still, many GOP politicians have argued that wearing a mask should be up to the parents and enacted laws prohibiting or restricting mandates. In Utah, for example, it's illegal for schools to mandate masks although the local county health department can order it. Even then, the local legislature can overturn the health department's order, essentially leaving the decision in the hands of politicians.
Critics of the approach said the law makes it difficult for schools to ensure students are safe. But Utah State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sydnee Dickson said the process in Utah is working and that they don't believe the Education Department probe applies.
"While we appreciate (the Education Department's) efforts to protect children, specifically students with disabilities, we think they have unfairly defined Utah as a state where mask mandates cannot occur," Dickson said in a statement. "State law places these decisions at the local level with local health departments and locally elected officials. We have witnessed the process occurring in several counties and currently Salt Lake City and Grand County School districts have indoor mask mandates in place."
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis threatened towithhold the salariesof school board members who defied him, although the Biden administration has urged those schools to use federal relief money if that happens.
Cardona insisted the latest announcement on investigating states is not political but a matter of public health.
"I want to work with Gov. DeSantis and every other governor to do what's right for our students," Cardona said. "The students in Florida are my students too. At the end of the day I'm going to trust medical doctors and health experts who do this for a living to guide our safe school reopening."
Top education officials in Oklahoma and South Carolina are voicing support for the Biden administration's investigation into schools and masks in their states.
Joy Hofmeister, Oklahoma's state superintendent of schools, said in a statement Monday that her state's law prohibiting mask requirements "is preventing schools from fulfilling their legal duty to protect and provide all students the opportunity to learn more safely in-person."
Likewise, South Carolina Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman said in a statement that she has repeatedly "implored" the legislature to reconsider the anti-mask law "and allow local school boards to make decisions affecting the health and well-being of the students they serve."
The education departments in Iowa and Tennessee said they were still reviewing Cardona's letter.
