Arizona Schools Teach Students It’s Ok to Violate the Law

Rules for thee, but not for me. Apparently, that’s the lesson a growing number of Arizona public schools want to teach students in the coming year. (Perhaps they’re looking to replace science, since it appears they’re not interested in following that anymore.)

At the end of June, Governor Ducey signed HB2898, which included a provision prohibiting a city, town, county, school board, or charter school governing body from requiring students or teachers to wear masks.

That should be simple enough to follow. But it sent teachers’ unions and the establishment media into a tailspin. After all, the left LOVES mask mandates for kids, even though they may cause psychological harm and no study can back them up.

So, instead of teaching students a proper civics lesson about what it means to follow the law, various K-12 school districts have chosen to violate it.

At the time this article was written, 10 public school districts in Arizona had announced that students and staff will be required to wear masks as they head back to school:

• • Alhambra Elementary School District
  • Creighton School District
  • Flagstaff Unified School District
  • Madison School District
  • Osborn School District
  • Phoenix Elementary School District
  • Phoenix Union High School District
  • Roosevelt Elementary School District
  • Tucson Unified School District
  • Washington Elementary School District

You would think they would have learned their lesson. Public school districts that turned their backs on parents and students paid the price earlier this year.

But they’d rather choose lawlessness. And in the process, our schools are setting a terrible example for kids by demonstrating to them that following the rules is optional.

Of course, these school districts will tell you that they’re listening to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and their decision to require masks is based on “science.” But what they fail to tell you is that the CDC actually allowed itself to be manipulated by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). And AFT, which happens to be one of the most powerful teachers’ unions in the country, considered itself the CDC’s “true thought partner” on reopening schools.

While COVID was certainly an issue that warranted some action, it never should have included trampling on the rights of the people—especially kids in schools. And the government never should have been allowed to overstep its bounds.

That’s why Arizona lawmakers and Governor Ducey exercised good judgment when they took important steps to protect our state from more COVID overreach.   

But if public school districts want to continue to violate the rights of its teachers and students by requiring masks, they should prepare themselves for more lawsuits like the one from Phoenix Union High School District biology teacher Douglas Hester.

And parents should certainly be given Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) to use their tax dollars to find alternative learning solutions for their children.

Students deserve access to the best education possible. And parents should be able to choose a school for their children that won’t teach them that it’s ok to violate the law.

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