VOA慢速英语--无视共和党州长禁令,美国多州学校强制规定戴口罩

School Districts Ignore States’ Bans on Face Covering

As schools in the U.S. start to reopen for the autumn, coronavirus cases among children are rising with the new Delta¹ variant².

But some state policymakers and their school district leaders disagree about how to safely reopen schools.

Last month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed its guidance. It is now advising school districts to require masks for all students, teachers and workers. This includes people who have been fully³ vaccinated⁴.

The country's two largest school districts, New York City and Los Angeles, are requiring its teachers to be vaccinated or face weekly COVID testing. California recently became the first state to require vaccines⁶ or weekly testing for all teachers and school workers.

But several Republican-led states have passed laws or signed executive orders that ban school districts from following the CDC guidance. Schools in Florida, Texas, Arizona, South Carolina, Utah, Iowa and Oklahoma are not permitted to require masks for teachers and students, Forbes reported.

In the United States, support for vaccines and mask-wearing is largely divided along political party lines. Monmouth University in New Jersey⁷ released a public opinion study this month measuring Americans' opinions about masking and vaccines. The study found that 85 percent of Democrats⁸ support new mask requirements, while 73 percent of Republicans oppose it.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis banned schools in the state from requiring masks. He called mask-wearing a choice that parents should make and not the government. But some districts in the state are choosing not to listen to the governor's order.

In Florida's Leon County, which includes the state capital of Tallahassee, masks are being required in elementary and middle schools. The first day of class in the county was last week.

County school Superintendent⁹ Rocky Hanna made the announcement at a recent press conference.

"I did a lot of soul searching, a lot of thinking," he said. "If ... we lost a child to this virus, I can't just simply blame the governor of the state of Florida. I can't."

Sara Lee is a mother of two 10-year-old twins attending school in Leon County. She told VOA that their school required masks during the spring term, as well. She said wearing masks did not prevent her kids from learning or communicating, as Governor DeSantis has suggested. "I was relieved when our school board went against our governor," Lee said.

The Broward County, Florida, teachers union said Thursday that four of its teachers died of COVID-19 within two days. The county's school board had voted to require mask-wearing.

DeSantis has threatened not to pay school leaders who do not follow his order. Last week, Florida set records for the number of coronavirus hospitalizations for 12 straight days.

The Arizona Republic says 10 school districts in Phoenix¹⁰, Arizona, are requiring mask-wearing even though a state law prevents mask or vaccine⁵ requirements. A group of 26 Republican lawmakers in the state are pushing for Governor Doug Ducey, also a Republican, not to give federal money to school districts that have mask requirements.

George Lyle has a stepson who attends high school in one of the Phoenix school districts that is ignoring the governor's order. His stepson is vaccinated. But he thinks that "in an environment right now where the Delta variant is spreading so rapidly, I think it would make sense," to require masks in schools, he told VOA.

Texas has also banned mask and vaccine mandates¹¹. Under Texas law, schools in the state do not even need to tell parents if there has been an outbreak of COVID-19 in a school.

The Dallas Independent School district started school August 16. It is ignoring the Texas governor's order and requiring masking. The district said on its website that the governor's order does not "establish reasonable and necessary safety rules" for its teachers, workers and students.

About 40 percent of new COVID-19 cases in the United States have come from Texas and Florida. Texas Governor Greg Abbot and Florida's DeSantis have both resisted efforts to prevent the spread of the virus since the pandemic started. Both are close allies of former President Donald Trump¹². Both are considering running in the 2024 presidential election.

Michael Steele is the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. He told The Washington Post that Abbot, DeSantis and other Republican governors are "making a political bet on the lives of the people they serve."

Few school districts are planning for a return to online or "hybrid¹³" learning, though the number is growing. Hybrid learning includes a mix of both online and in-person classes.

The publication Education Week, found that 20 percent of school district leaders questioned said they will have hybrid models. That is up from 10 percent a month earlier. Less than one percent of school leaders say they are planning for full-time¹⁴ remote learning.

Lee, the parent in Florida, said her young children struggled at times while learning remotely. She said she hopes the masks will help prevent an outbreak.

"We've learned that it's probably better for them to be in school," Lee said.

She added, "It's interesting to me that last year in this time we were remote learning, and now (the virus is) worse and it affects younger kids more, so we are sending them to school.

"I'm just worried about the spread."

Words in This Story

variant — n. different in some way from others of the same kind

district — n. an area or section of a country, city, or town

soul-searching — n. a group of people who manage or direct a company or organization

relieved — adj. a group of people who manage or direct a company or organization

board — n. a group of people who manage or direct a company or organization

stepson — n. your wife's or husband's son by a past marriage or relationship

rapid — adj. a group of people who manage or direct a company or organization

outbreak — n. a sudden start or increase of fighting or disease

bet — n. an agreement in which people try to guess what will happen and the person who guesses wrong has to give something (such as money) to the person who guesses right

remote — n. connected to a computer system from another place

1 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

2 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

5 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

6 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

7 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

10 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

11 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

12 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

13 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

14 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。