New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is expanding vaccine mandates for teachers in the Big Apple. There was already a requirement for teachers and staff in New York’s public schools to get vaccinated, but now De Blasio is requiring that all employees at private and parochial schools must get vaccinated, too. It’s described in the New York Post as “the largest effort in the nation to force religious schools to adhere to a vaccine mandate.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday extended his public school employee vaccination mandate to private and parochial schools.
Under Thursday’s announcement, employees at all private and religious education schools — including yeshivas and Catholic schools — must provide proof of a first vaccination dose by Dec. 20.
Some 56,000 workers at 938 non-public schools will be forced to comply with the new mandate, according to a statement from de Blasio and Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi.
Hot Air’s Jazz Shaw adds:
One teacher at a Borough Park yeshiva told the Post that the Jewish community surrounding his school already felt under attack and this mandate was only going to make matters worse. Some of the yeshivas have more than three-quarters of the teachers still unvaccinated and there are some where not a single worker has gotten the vaccine.
The same teacher brought up an even more pressing question. If the private school boards and principals refuse to give the order, how does the Mayor plan to enforce this? Will they be sending NYPD officers into yeshivas and Catholic schools and dragging teachers and janitors out into the streets?…..
The Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Brooklyn, Thomas Chadzutko, immediately sent a letter to de Blasio asking him to “reconsider” the order. He said that most of his teachers are already vaccinated and he encourages everyone to get the shots, but he believes there should be “an element of choice” in the matter. He probably shouldn’t get his hopes up too high. We’ve been dealing with de Blasio for many years now and being reasonable isn’t exactly a trait that he’s known for. Plenty of elected officials have gotten carried away with the special emergency powers they inherited as a result of the pandemic, but few have embraced them as firmly and broadly as Bill de Blasio.
