Governor DeSantis’ press team ripped into the Biden Administration’s continued mask mandate for all Head Start preschools and care centers. This mandate contradicts the CDC’s most recent guidelines, which only suggest masking when COVID is high in an area.
Head Start preschools and care centers fall under the authority of the Department of Health and Human Services, a federal agency. Toddlers as young as two and their teachers must wear masks, and the teachers must be vaccinated.
However, the mandates only apply in half of the states, and red-leaning state governments like Florida sued and were granted injunctions, or pauses, on the mandates’ effect.
In keeping with his focus on the rights of parents and the protection of children, DeSantis’ office blasted the Biden administration for the continued mandates.
DeSantis press secretary Brian Griffin made a statement to Fox News Digital regarding the governor’s attitude.
“Governor DeSantis looks out for children first and foremost. He was the first to insist that children should be able to return to the classroom, and he has consistently stood against masks in school as harmful towards a child’s development and education….Governor DeSantis will not allow federal bureaucrats to muzzle children in Florida. It is unacceptable that the Biden Administration would continue to do this to children, and bizarre that they would do so against their own CDC’s guidance.”
Many on Twitter were similarly unhappy with the mandates.
Remember when the White House blamed Republicans for school closures and masking?
NYT: Why is the Biden administration forcing masks on poor toddlers in HeadStart? https://t.co/CWQCUz5z7V
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) September 7, 2022
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For those of you still in the "derp, we didn't know as much then as we, derp, know now" camp, I give you HHS and CDC.
NYT: Why is the Biden administration forcing masks on poor toddlers in HeadStart? – HotAir https://t.co/Jwkvb5NzlS
— Lowell George Washington (@deanriehm) September 7, 2022
"NYT: Why is the Biden administration forcing masks on poor toddlers in HeadStart?"‼️🇺🇸‼️🇺🇸Because they're awful and people go a long to get along.. Don't👇👇👇https://t.co/1VIBqAFC9b
— GailG (@GGail2011) September 8, 2022
The Department of Health and Human Services agreed. A spokesperson for HHS told the Hechinger Report in February it would be pausing the enforcement of the Biden-ordered mandates. The spokesperson said that rule changes are a “lengthy process” and that they wanted to consider CDC recommendations.
National Head Start Association’s deputy director Tommy Sheridan told The Times how local Head Start directors would react is up in the air, given that the rule is still technically in the books.
“Head Start programs have been short-circuited,” “This mandate on masking and vaccines has hurt a lot of programs. It is more of a crisis that is now feeling like a looming catastrophe.”
Additional stories you may want to read:
Florida GOP Slams Crist for Support of Biden’s Immigration Policy, Crist Plays Victim
DeSantis Savages Biden, ‘American Nero’-‘One of the Most Disgusting Speeches’
- Zuckerberg Exposes Biden Admin’s Censorship - August 28, 2024
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- Trump Vance WRECK the DNC - August 21, 2024