Press Releases

Today, Republican Leader of the Education and Labor Committee Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona demanding confirmation that states are not required to allow mask mandates in schools as a condition of receiving American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funds.

In the letter, Foxx writes: “You recently wrote to the governors and state commissioners of education in Texas and Florida regarding their states’ mask policies in schools. In those letters you implied that the Department of Education (Department) could impose new requirements for the use of [ARP ESSER] funds that could interfere in state governance of their education systems.”

Foxx continues: “I would like to confirm with you our shared understanding of the authority you have to intervene in these and other states’ decisions so that all federal, state, and local entities have clarity on this subject.”  

Read the full letter to Education Secretary Cardona here.