The US Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is investigating 5 states over mask bans
- The US Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights is investigating five states over indoor mask bans.
- The office is investigating mask bans in Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah.
- Officials are looking into whether or not the mask bans prevent students with disabilities who are at a heightened risk for COVID-19. from "safely accessing in-person education."
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The US Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights is investigating whether or not indoor mask bans in five states prevent students with disabilities who are at a heightened risk for COVID-19 from "safely accessing in-person education."
State education leaders in Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah were sent letters from the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights to inform them their state mask bans were being investigated.
"National data also show that children with some underlying medical conditions, including those with certain disabilities, are at higher risk than other children for experiencing severe illness from COVID-19," Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Suzanne Goldberg wrote to each of the five states. "At the same time, extensive evidence supports the universal use of masks over the nose and mouth to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission."
US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement that his department had heard from concerned parents who feared their students with disabilities or underlying health conditions weren't receiving equal access to learning.
"It's simply unacceptable that state leaders are putting politics over the health and education of the students they took an oath to serve," he said in the statement. "The Department will fight to protect every student's right to access in-person learning safely and the rights of local educators to put in place policies that allow all students to return to the classroom full-time in-person safely this fall."
The US Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights said that it was not launching investigations into Florida, Texas, Arkansas or Arizona because state-ordered mask bans are not being enforced because of court orders "or other state actions."
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