The writing is on the wall for COVID-19 mandates in educational settings in several jurisdictions, prompted by court rulings, political flips and the perception of pending electoral doom.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who said he "wasn’t thinking of the Bill of Rights" when he issued unilateral lockdown orders early in the pandemic, announced Monday he would end the state's school mask mandate in a month.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, also a Democrat, ended his state's mandate last month, and Democrat-led Connecticut and New York are considering letting their expiring mandates lapse.
They may be afraid of becoming the next Virginia, where Republicans swept high office largely on the basis of parental outrage at public school policies on COVID and curriculum.
