The Department of Education has launched a civil rights investigation into whether states that have banned mask mandates are discriminating against students with disabilities who could be at a higher risk for severe illness from Covid.
The department's Office for Civil Rights has opened directed investigations in five states — Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah.
"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."
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The department said the Office for Civil Rights has not opened investigations in Florida, Texas, Arkansas, or Arizona because their bans on indoor mask mandates are not currently being enforced.
Cardona indicated the move was coming during an interview with said NBC's "Meet the Press" last week.
"We're going to use our Office for Civil Rights to investigate any claim that comes forward to make sure that students' rights are kept. And we're also going to ensure that the funds are available to those districts that are doing the right thing to make sure students come in safely," Cardona said, adding that his agency had been in conversations with school districts, like those in Illinois, that are violating governors' statewide mask mandates.
"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.