After a group of parents sued Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) for forcing students to continue wearing masks despite Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) issuing executive order banning that practice, LCPS declined to comment on the situation.
Wayde B. Byard, LCPS’ public information officer, told The Virginia Star Thursday that the only comment he could offer was already made by Superintendent Scott Ziegler.
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The University of Wisconsin system will lift its mask mandate for students and faculty in the coming weeks, according to a release from University of Wisconsin System President Tommy Thompson.
According to the statement, Thompson is working with each schools’ chancellor to remove the requirement “as soon as March 1 and no later than spring break.”
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed National Political Editor Neil W. McCabe to the newsmakers line to explain his recent article on Homeland Security’s February 7th bulletin and changes since last August.
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After appearing without a mask for a photo opportunity last week in front of a classroom full of masked students, Democrat gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has apologized.
“I took a picture and that was the mistake,” Abrams said on CNN Tuesday. “Protocols matter and protecting our kids is the most important thing and anything that can be perceived as undermining. That is a mistake and I apologize.”
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School closures and district struggles to provide adequate remote learning platforms for students have led parents, and some teachers, to think outside the box to create their own private “microschools” that provide individualized learning and flexibility.
In late summer of 2020, as many school districts wrestled with reopening amid government-imposed mandates and teacher union demands, Jason Bedrick, director of policy at EdChoice, and his colleague, fellow Matthew Ladner, prepared a report at Heritage.org that explained the concept of microschools.
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Mayor Glenn Jacobs of Knox County to the newsmakers line to talk about this continued fight against mandatory mask mandates in schools and the new state budget.
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No, this is not another Qanon or Pizzagate conspiracy theory. It’s a sober recitation of the facts and incidents that can support no other conclusion.
Let’s start with one important stage-setting fact: According to OpenSecrets.org two organizations account for practically all of the contributions made by teachers unions: The National Education Association (about $20 million in 2016) and the American Federation of Teachers (almost $12 million). Both groups — which compete for members, but also collaborate with each other through the NEA-AFT Partnership — are consistently among the organizations that contribute the most money to candidates and political groups. From 2004 to 2016, their donations grew from $4.3 million to more than $32 million — an all-time high.
Even more than most labor unions, they have little use for Republicans, giving Democrats at least 94 percent of the funds they contributed to candidates and parties since as far back as 1990, where the Open Secrets’ data begins. Go here for a detailed breakdown of teachers union political giving.
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Virginia’s Attorney General Jason Miyares joined radio host Jeff Katz of The Jeff Katz Show on WRVA, where he expressed his dismay about Loudoun County Public Schools’ (LCPS) current mask mandate policy.
“I’ve gotta admit, that was a pretty astonishing even coming from the Loudoun County administrators,” Miyares said.
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Ohio gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci pledged to end mask mandates on his first day as governor, if he were to be elected.
In order to accomplish the goal, the Republican contender explained that he would sign an executive order to give parents the power to opt their students out of school mask mandates.
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After a large group of students at Woodgrove High School, part of Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS), decided to defy the school’s mask mandate Monday, LCPS has responded.
“This morning 30 Woodgrove students (out of a student body of 1,585) refused to wear a mask. They were asked to move to the auditorium where they could use the Schoology platform to continue their studies,” Wayde B. Byard, LCPS’ Public Information Officer, told The Virginia Star by email. “Teachers dropped periodically in to help students with their work. A lunch period and bathroom breaks were arranged. Several students opted to go home and were allowed to do so.”
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It is hard to know which is more frightening: the Australian radicalism about COVID-19, the Austrian effort to coerce its citizens, or the attitudes of American Democrats who regard extreme sanctions as reasonable behavior toward the supposedly bad people who don’t get vaccinated or wear masks.
Let’s consider each one.
In Australia, the government felt so threatened by the best tennis player in the world that it intervened decisively to block him from entering the country and competing in the Australian Open.
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After inaugurated Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) banned schools from establishing mask mandates on his first day as Virginia governor, four major school districts say they won’t abide by his new rule.
Executive Order Number Two (2022) and Order of Public Health Emergency One banned the mandates.
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The Biden administration on Friday threatened to cut Arizona’s coronavirus relief funding because of Governor Doug Ducey’s policies to continue in-person learning in the state.
According to the letter from the U.S. Treasury Department, Ducey’s programs, which award funds to parents who are seeking to remove their children from schools that shut down or implement a mask mandate, are not a permitted use of the money.
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State Senator Mike Bell (R-Riceville) and State Representative Michael Curcio (R-Dickson) introduced a bill on Monday to award funding to families impacted by school closures or various COVID mandates.
The legislation, SB1647/HB1671, would award vouchers to parents who choose to relocate their child to a different school because of the issues.
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Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Metro Nashville School Board candidate Kelli Phillips for District Four to the newsmaker line to discuss her first priority and why she’s running.
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A former Planned Parenthood president and public health professional argued in a Thursday op-ed for The Washington Post that the rise in cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant is not a reason to keep schools closed.
Dr. Leana Wen argued “both sides [of the school reopening debate] are wrong,” in her op-ed. “let’s agree that schools are essential and then work to reduce risk to get students back to in-person learning,” Wen wrote.
Wen called it “astounding” that governors in states like Texas, Georgia and Iowa are fighting against school mask mandates and that Florida’s surgeon general is discouraging testing in schools, attributing ” “low vaccine uptake among children” to “rampant right-wing disinformation.”
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Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s office told The Ohio Star Thursday that it will not address concerns about whether the current protocols in place to end the COVID-19 are actually working.
The Star asked DeWine’s office if, amid the surge of Omicron variant COVID-19 cases, the governor’s office had any plan to implement new measures other than mandating mandates and encouraging vaccines that might help control the pandemic.
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Mask mandates do little, if anything, to make the air safer inside airplanes, two major airline CEOs argued before Congress Wednesday.
“I think the case is very strong that masks don’t add much, if anything, in the air cabin environment,” Gary Kelly, chief executive of Southwest Airlines, told lawmakers. Being inside a plane “is very safe and very high quality compared to any other indoor setting,” Kelly said. The air filters on planes turn over clean air every three minutes, eliminating nearly all airborne pathogens, he explained.
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While children in Pennsylvania will soon be allowed to return to school without masks, children in Tennessee will not.
Over a 24-hour period, Pennsylvania’s highest court and a federal judge in Tennessee came to opposite conclusions about whether mask mandates should be legal.
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A Missouri newspaper is standing by its recent reporting on COVID-19 mask mandates after it drew criticism from Gov. Mike Parson (R).
“Our story — which included all documents and data supporting it — speaks for itself. We stand behind our reporting,” Editor-in-Chief of The Missouri Independent Jason Hancock told The Star News Network.
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The Florida School Board Association (FSBA) announced they have withdrawn from their affiliation with the National School Boards Association (NSBA). The announcement comes as 26 state school board associations have either cut ties or distanced themselves from the parent organization.
The impetus for the withdrawal stems from the NSBA’s letter to the federal government asking for intervention at local school board meetings. Attorney General Merrick Garland took the NSBA up on their recommendations and announced they would be launching investigations into parents at school board meetings.
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A California congressman is facing backlash for a series of tweets slamming unvaccinated Americans and parents who choose not to vaccinate their children.
“I’m losing my Covid patience [thread]. I’ve tried to reason with the unvaxxed. I’ve directed some to medical pros. I don’t judge but hear them out and steer them to facts. The unvaxxed love to say it’s about choice. But you know who doesn’t have a choice? My 3 kids under 5,” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA-15) said on Twitter.
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A new advocacy group, Moms for Liberty (MFL), was founded by two former Florida school board members who sought a new organization to unite parents against what they see as destructive policies being perpetuated in the public school system.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Roger Simon in studio to weigh in on a recent injunction by Judge Waverly Crenshaw banning mask mandates in schools.
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Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed State Representative Jerry Sexton to the newsmakers line to weigh in on a recent stay ruling against the Tennessee General Assembly law banning school mask mandates.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson to the newsmakers line to discuss the recent ruling by Obama appointed Sixth Circuit Court Judge to stay mask mandates after Omnibus Bill passing.
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Glenn Youngkin will be Virginia’s next governor, part of a near-complete Republican takeover of Virginia’s government. In 2022, Republicans will be governor, attorney general, and lieutenant governor. They will also likely hold a two-seat majority in the House of Delegates, although two close races may go to recounts. However, they will not hold the Senate, where Democrats have a 21-to-19 majority. Still, if one Democratic senator flips on a vote, that would create a tie that lieutenant governor-elect Winsome Sears would break. Minority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah), who House Republicans nominated for Speaker, has said that Republicans do have a mandate, but he is also aware of the need to work across the aisle with the Senate.
All that gives political novice Youngkin strong Republican support to launch efforts to fulfill his campaign promises, but also sets him up for serious challenges to get his policies across the finish line. Still, Virginia governors have extensive power to set policy and funding priorities, and Youngkin will also have executive authority, which will allow him to fulfill some key promises without legislative buy-in.
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Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Independent Women’s Voice and author, Carrie Lukas, to the newsmaker line to discuss her recent article related to her distrust of Virginia’s public schools.
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With the passing away of Rep. Frank Pratt (R-Casa Grande) and the resignation of Rep. Bret Roberts (R-Maricopa), the Pinal County Supervisors have chosen two new legislators to replace them. The five-member board chose them at a meeting on October 27.
Teresa Martinez will replace Roberts representing LD 11, which is located between Phoenix and Tucson. She described herself to The Arizona Sun Times as “A pro-life, pro-gun, back the blue, protect our border, love America, protect our elections through election integrity conservative.” She said, “I am not going to trample on your freedom, but I don’t want you to trample on mine or anyone else’s.”
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More school districts around Ohio continue to drop mask mandates in favor of optional policies as the number of COVID-19 cases has dropped over the past month.
The Ohio Department of Health also has relaxed its quarantine recommendations for students and student-athletes, with the idea of reducing what the state is calling unintended consequences of out-of-school quarantining.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Representative Brandon Ogles to the newsmakers line to discuss the special session addressing mask and vaccine mandates concerning the mature minor doctrine.
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Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs to the newsmakers line to highlight October 26th Fall Festival in Corrington, Tennessee, and liberal infiltration in the local government.
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Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci on Friday argued that the continued threat of mask mandates in schools will “endanger” children in Ohio.
According to a report from The Columbus Dispatch, state lawmakers are unlikely to pass legislation that would prevent the state and school districts from implementing a mask mandate.
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Over 350 doctors from across Florida signed on to a letter asking the Florida Senate to scrutinize Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo. The doctors took part in the effort alongside the Committee to Protect Health Care (CPHC), as they outlined numerous questions regarding Ladapo’s positions.
Ladapo, upon announcing his appointment to the position, said Florida is “done with fear” and began a process of pushing back against universal mask mandates and vaccine mandates. He was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and some DeSantis opponents called Ladapo “an anti-masker and a vaccine skeptic.”
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Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Mom’s for Liberty Robin Steenman to the newsmakers line to discuss the appointment of Pfizer VP to the Williamson County School Board and her new PAC.
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Destruction of the family has always been at the center of the collectivist project. In chapter two of The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels point out that the destruction of private property will never be complete until the “abolition [Aufhebung] of the family” is accomplished. The dream is perennial among snarling misanthropists. A couple of years ago, an interview in The Nation with a radical feminist explained that if you “want to dismantle capitalism” then you have to “abolish the family.”
It is worth keeping that in mind as the little drama of Merrick Garland versus the parents of America unfolds. I wrote about the attorney general’s absurd but troubling memorandum shortly after it was released on October 4. As all the world knows (but only some precincts of the world admit), Garland threatened to mobilize the entire police power of the state against parents. Why?
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Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Nashville Metro City Council Member-At-Large Steve Glover to the newsmakers line to discuss the recently indefinitely deferred mask mandate, scooter problems, and party bus chaos.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said he will defend Floridians after Attorney General Merrick Garland began “weaponizing” the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate supposed threats against school board members.
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After a judge told a school district it couldn’t require masks for students without a quarantine order, the district reported fewer COVID-19 cases, but it has faced other consequences.
It comes as a member of the Illinois Legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules said there is further evidence the Illinois State Board of Education can’t revoke a public or private school’s recognition status for failing to follow the governor’s mask mandate.
Attorney Thomas DeVore said since securing a temporary restraining order enjoining the Hillsboro school district from mandating masks on children on Sept. 17, cases have gone down.
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A fight at a Minnesota county school board meeting Monday led to parents being ejected from the meeting space.
The topic of the discussion at the Eastern Carver County Schools meeting in Chaska was mask mandates. A video of the incident shows a few men getting physical, apparently over a disagreement about whether taking photos inside the meeting should be allowed.
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Tennessee’s attorney general is appealing the recent decisions of two federal judges related to Gov. Bill Lee’s executive order allowing parents to opt out of school mask mandates.
Judges in Shelby, Knox and Williamson counties recently granted injunctions in lawsuits filed by parents of students with disabilities in each county. Attorney General Herbert Slatery’s appeals will be in the Shelby County and Knox County cases.
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Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Metro City Council Member-At-Large, Steve Glover to the newsmakers line to discuss the unintended consequences of a never-ending mask mandate in Davidson County.
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Fifty University of Georgia science professors have banded together and said they will mandate masks in their classrooms, despite the fact that the University System of Georgia (USG) says students do not have to wear masks.
“We are deeply devoted to the education and well-being of all members of the University community and feel obligated to protect our students and fellow employees from the unnecessary dangers associated with inappropriate public health planning and messages,” the professors reportedly wrote in a letter to administrators.
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Tea Party Patriots Action (TPPA) announced on Tuesday that they will hold nationwide protests against Democrat-led mandates for COVID-19 vaccines and masks.
The movement, entitled “Just Say No,” describes mandates as a power move, rather than for public health, and encourages individuals to not comply.
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Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci on Wednesday blasted Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s support for mask mandates in schools
The statement from Renacci follows Governor Mike DeWine announcing on Tuesday that his administration will make a “direct appeal” to local school districts, encouraging them to implement mask mandates.
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In defiance of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for group gatherings, Georgia faculty and students have coordinated weeklong protests of the University System of Georgia.
The students are gathering to demand that the University System implement a mask mandate on all of the state’s publicly-run university campuses.
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President Joe Biden’s latest plan to combat the spread of COVID-19 will take the teeth out of an Arizona law that prohibits mask and vaccination mandates.
The president’s plan, which orders any private company that employs 100 or more people to vaccinate their employees by mid-January or face fines, includes new tax dollars to reimburse any school district that faces a monetary punishment for implementing a mask mandate.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Jenny Beth Martin of the Tea Party Patriots to the newsmakers line to talk about their ‘just say no’ program and the ongoing fight for liberty.
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Just three weeks after Gov. Doug Ducey announced that school districts issuing mask mandates or requiring vaccinated students to quarantine would be penalized by diverting money to students to use as school vouchers to attend elsewhere, demand has exceeded the $20 million he allotted by twice the amount. Ducey announced on August 17 that money the state received from the federal government through the pandemic-generated American Rescue Plan to boost per-pupil spending would not go to any of those schools.
Ducey made the announcement immediately following a demand on August 11 from Republican state legislators to take action regarding those school districts. They suggested that Ducey could withhold federal funds and offer vouchers, which he did, but he did not go so far as following their recommendation of suing the school districts.
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Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael in studio to discuss the course events of Shelby County’s mask mandate lawsuit against Governor Lee.
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