Feds Launch Civil Rights Investigation Into 5 States Over Mask Mandate Bans

The U.S Department of Education has launched a civil rights investigation into five states over their policies banning schools from instituting mask mandates. The states include Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah.

The department's Office for Civil Rights is running the investigation, which is looking into whether the bans discriminate against students with medical conditions and disabilities that put them at higher risk of developing a severe illness from COVID-19.

"The Department has heard from parents from across the country — particularly parents of students with disabilities and with underlying medical conditions — about how state bans on universal indoor masking are putting their children at risk and preventing them from accessing in-person learning equally," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement. "It's simply unacceptable that state leaders are putting politics over the health and education of the students they took an oath to serve."

Cardona said that the agency is in contact with school districts that have defied the bans.

"We shouldn't be putting students at risk. So yes, we are involving ourselves in conversations with those leaders, with those elected officials, to make sure that student safety is at the top of the list," he said.

The investigation does not include Florida, Texas, Arkansas, or Arizona because their prohibitions on mask mandates are not currently being enforced.

"The Department will continue to closely monitor those states and is prepared to take action if state leaders prevent local schools or districts from implementing universal indoor masking in schools or if the current court decisions were to be reversed," Cardona added.