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New York can move forward with coronavirus vaccine mandate for school workers, judges say

Teachers and other school workers in the city have until Friday to show they have received at least one vaccine shot

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio won a court victory Monday that will allow him to move forward with a vaccine mandate for school employees. (John Minchillo/AP)

A federal appeals court Monday made way for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) to implement a coronavirus vaccine mandate for all school employees, ruling against four educators who had sued to stop it.

The court decision marks a major victory for the nation’s largest school system, which employs 150,000 people and educates over 1 million students in a city gutted by the coronavirus last year. Unlike most other cities, New York’s mandate does not allow employees to submit to regular testing as an alternative to getting a vaccine.

The city’s mandate would have required all school employees to show proof of at least one shot by midnight Monday. But on Friday, a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit issued an injunction temporarily halting the requirement.

On Monday, a three-judge panel denied the injunction, clearing the path for the mandate to go in to effect.

The New York Times first reported the development.

Despite the ruling, the city said it would give school employees until the end of the day Friday to show proof of vaccination. About 13 percent of all school employees are not vaccinated, including about 9 percent of teachers and 3 percent of principals, school officials say.

N.Y. hospitals brace for staff shortages as vaccine mandate begins: ‘This is just one more body blow’

According to the United Federation of Teachers, the city’s education department plans to remove employees who have not obtained an exemption or shown proof of vaccination from the payroll.

Mark Fonte, one of the attorneys representing the educators who sued, said in an emailed statement that he and his co-counsel are petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court for emergency relief. In their lawsuit, they argued that the severity of the consequences for refusing the vaccine “shocks the conscience, violates constitutional rights, and not only should not be permitted but must be restrained immediately to prevent irreparable harm.”

On Monday, Fonte said he is “dismayed and disappointed by this turn of events.”

“With thousands of teachers not vaccinated the City may regret what it wished for,” Fonte wrote. “Our children will be left with no teachers and no security in schools.”

Many districts give school staff the option to get vaccinated or submit to regular testing. But as the pandemic wears on, more jurisdictions are making it mandatory — with no option to forgo the vaccine — for everyone except for those who obtain medical or religious exemptions. The showdown in New York over the mandate may foreshadow other court fights.

D.C. mandates coronavirus vaccines for public and private school staff and child-care workers with no testing opt

Last week, the District implemented such a mandate, telling unvaccinated school employees and child-care workers they could no longer submit to testing if they did not want to get the vaccine. Oregon, Washington and Puerto Rico also have mandates without testing options, according to EdWeek.

Vaccine mandate temporarily halted in New York City schools, nation’s largest school system

Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, said he and his members remain concerned that the New York mandate could leave schools shorthanded.

“We will be working with our members to ensure, as far as possible, that our schools can open safely as the vaccine mandate is enforced,” Mulgrew said Monday in a statement.

The pandemic’s impact on education

The latest: Updated coronavirus booster shots are now available for children as young as 5. To date, more than 10.5 million children have lost one or both parents or caregivers during the coronavirus pandemic.

In the classroom: Amid a teacher shortage, states desperate to fill teaching jobs have relaxed job requirements as staffing crises rise in many schools. American students’ test scores have even plummeted to levels unseen for decades. One D.C. school is using COVID relief funds to target students on the verge of failure.

Higher education: College and university enrollment is nowhere near pandemic level, experts worry. ACT and SAT testing have rebounded modestly since the massive disruptions early in the coronavirus pandemic, and many colleges are also easing mask rules.

DMV news: Most of Prince George’s students are scoring below grade level on district tests. D.C. Public School’s new reading curriculum is designed to help improve literacy among the city’s youngest readers.

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