Our state and federal governments demonstrate a lack of clarity on a number of issues – global warming action, corruption and federal agencies as just a few examples. Science tells us one thing and contrived political fictions spread by various media tell something else.
Solid ground is science-based like taking caution for childrens’ vaccines – especially for under age five. Governor Youngkin has thrown caution to the wind by removing mask mandates after we agree that children are safest and learn best in school. Many children are not yet vaccinated.
Removing masks endangers childrens’ right to safely learn with minimal disruption to the curriculum and prevents burdening teachers with increased COVID spread, excess student absences, make-up homework assignments and following new, complicated precautions needed for teaching with unmasked children.
Many school systems are bucking Youngkin. Some in NOVA are suing. Salem schools are following science and keeping children masked.
Many school children have already lost two years of in-school learning – exacerbating this generation’s inequality depending on whether their parents sufficiently substitute for highly-trained teachers.
Fasten your seatbelts for our new Trump-substitute Virginia Governor Youngkin who has given us a preview of his agenda to move Virginia backward. The next four years will be a struggle to hold the line by the Virginia Senate.
Removing the food tax is long overdue, but Virginia’s current budget surplus is likely to be plundered for purposes that do not maximize helping average Virginians. Be aware, informed and push back against increasing inequality, endangering public safety and health, and failing to maximize the value of our current exceptional Virginia state surplus.
Stick with science which tests before advising action. When you ignore science as did Governor Northam on permitting and constructing MVP, our mountains become the victim of a destructive fast-tracked and redundant scheme that fails to benefit Southwest.
You can see this yet unpermitted but fast-tracked MVP from various high Salem vantage points proving that ignoring science will create billions in stranded fossil investment assets, including many people’s pension savings Newsflash – the Federal court just remanded MVP’s permit to cross Jefferson National Forest back to the USFS. Many of our federal courts still operate on the basis of justice and science.
Let’s not let similar science-less chaos be unleashed on our children in this pandemic. Eventually, everyone may get COVID, but let’s not let our schools become the super-spreader means of doing that all at once by allowing unmasked students to endanger everyone’s health – especially during the current rapid spread of Omicron.
- Cynthia Munley
In Cynthia’s own words : “Many school children have already lost two years of in-school learning…” but weren’t masks mandated during those two years? So asking for more of the same but expecting a different outcome; not much of plan in my opinion. Let the parents decide what’s best for their children.