Taxpayer-Funded Coercion and Why Kids Are Still Being Masked
Why is federal government influencing your school board?
Let's go back to early 2020 when COVID first hit in the United States and schools closed across the nation. That did financially hit school districts across the board. Between mask mandates and the unprepared roll-out of virtual learning, parents took their kids out of public education to pursue other options, hurting local district funding.
There were subsidies provided in 2020 to help known as CARES. In 2021 there was a bill passed federally called American Rescue Plan (ARP) which included an Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund. The problem with this program is that it isn't given by need, it's given by compliance with some federal guidelines. State education departments had to provide a plan that was in compliance with these guidelines. States deemed “non-compliant”(TN, FL, AZ, IA, OK, TX, SC, and UT) received an official letter stating that the states “actions to block school districts from voluntarily adopting science-based strategies for preventing the spread of COVID-19 that are aligned with the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) puts these goals at risk and may infringe upon a school district’s authority to adopt policies to protect students and educators as they develop their safe return to in-person instruction plans required by Federal law.”
Washington State guidelines for Local Education Agencies (LEA), set by the OSPI, were approved by the Department of Education. In these guidelines, COVID infection mitigation isn't mentioned in any way that would imply it is a priority. In fact the mission statement reads as such;
“Transform K–12 education to a system that is centered on closing opportunity gaps and is characterized by high expectations for all students and educators. We achieve this by developing equity-based policies and supports that empower educators, families, and communities.”
If you were wondering why these equity policies were created en masse in 2021, it's because the funding for these policies was subsidized and enforced by federal and local government. Want to know why mask mandates and arbitrary spacing guidelines are still in effect? Federal coercion funded by you.
More links:
DOE- "Maintenance of Equity"
https://oese.ed.gov/offices/american-rescue-plan/american-rescue-plan-elementary-and-secondary-school-emergency-relief/maintenance-of-equity/?fbclid=IwAR0n6UtThUV6K6IAwoaIFMBtoA79HJTeUeyEwpVpqcaJZJOsi9oRGta0wX4
DOE- COVID vaccination.
https://oese.ed.gov/files/2021/11/becerra-cardona-letter-on-covid-19-vaccination-for-children.pdf