DeSantis Is Blocking Money From Two School Districts Over Mask Mandates, Defying A Judge's Ruling
"Despite a judge's ruling on Friday declaring that the Florida governor's ban on mask mandates in schools is unconstitutional, the State Board of Education has forged ahead with its threat to withhold school board members salaries in districts that require the face coverings in classrooms." - KOSU NPR
We decided to map how bad the COVID situation in Florida was using data from the John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, where vaccination resources in the Alachua and Broward School Districts using data from URISA GIS Corps. These two groups provide an excellent public resource and regularly update the underlying data.
This StoryMap can be freely shared with this link https://arcg.is/bubn4 or embedded in a website with this code:
< iframe src="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/ee0f050b55f24d9fb86fb990c4738ed0" width="100%" height="500px" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="geolocation"></iframe>
Judge said DeSantis' order lacked authority
"Following a four-day trial, Judge John Cooper ruled in favor of parents who sued, arguing DeSantis overstepped his authority in forbidding the face covering requirement and said it cannot be enforced. He noted that face mask mandates that follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are "reasonable and consistent with the best scientific and medical opinion in this country." Cooper also added that DeSantis' order "is without legal authority." - KOSU NPR
Floridians Are Turning on Ron DeSantis as Covid Deaths Hit Record High
"The pandemic is now worse than it’s ever been in Florida. The state’s governor is playing politics. It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, then, that Floridians have had it with Governor Ron DeSantis’ continued opposition to sensible preventative measures that have been proven to mitigate the spread of the disease. A Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday found that a plurality of DeSantis’ constituents believe he is hurting rather than helping efforts to slow the spread of the disease; that 61 percent of Floridians believe the rise recent explosion was preventable; and that 63 percent believe masks are effective while 59 percent support wearing them indoors." - Rolling Stone