President Joe Biden’s education secretary is trying to undermine GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s ban on mask wearing in schools by offering school districts money to not comply with the ban.
Miguel Cardona sent a letter last week to DeSantis and the state’s education commissioner stating that school districts can at their “sole and complete discretion” use federal funds to pay salaries of officials who defy the governor’s order.
“We are eager to partner with [the Florida Department of Education] on any efforts to further our shared goals of protecting the health and safety of students and educators,” Cardona wrote in the letter. “If FLDOE does not wish to pursue such an approach, the Department will continue to work directly with the school districts and educators that serve Florida’s students.”
The New York Post reported on the development:
A DeSantis spokeswoman blasted the Biden administration for wanting to spend federal funds “on the salaries of superintendents and elected politicians, who don’t believe that parents have a right to choose what’s best for their children, than on Florida’s students, which is what these funds should be used for.”
The Republican governor last month signed an executive order banning school districts from making face masks mandatory for students and staff defending “parents’ freedom to choose.” The order came days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended all students and staff wear masks when they return this fall.
On Monday, the governor’s office threatened to withhold the salaries of school board members and superintendents who did not comply with the ban. DeSantis has also threatened to withhold state funding from districts as well.
Cardona argues that schools should be able to enforce their own masking rules.
“Any threat by Florida to withhold salaries from superintendents and school board members who are working to protect students and educators (or to levy other financial penalties) can be addressed using Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief [ESSER] funds at the sole and complete discretion of Florida school districts,” Cardona wrote.
Florida got more than $7 billion from the American Relief Plan, 90 percent of which is designated for ESSER funding but the money has not, according to news reports, been distributed.
“In fact, it appears that Florida has prioritized threatening to withhold State funds from school districts that are working to reopen schools safely rather than protecting students and educators and getting school districts the Federal pandemic recovery funds to which they are entitled,” Cardona wrote.
Florida has seen an increase in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations but the CDC recently corrected data it published, which reported daily numbers but included numbers from multiple days.
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