Oklahoma teachers fired for refusing to wear masks: ‘Never thought this would happen’ in America

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The Oklahoma City community university board unanimously voted to hearth 6 teachers for refusing to abide by the university mask mandate. 

Soon after people lecturers struck back with a lawsuit in opposition to the district, 3 of them shared their story Friday on “Fox & Close friends First.”

“It was not about the mask. It was by no means about the mask. It was always about the rule of law,” instructor James Taylor explained to host Todd Piro.

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The tenured educators unsuccessful to comply with the mask mandate that was supposed to safeguard team and pupils versus the coronavirus and had been suspended on Aug. 16 when the mandate went into influence, The Oklahoman reported. Though district employees can apply for professional medical exemptions, the six academics only claimed own good reasons for refusing to comply with the mask mandate. Their lawsuit was submitted against the district and the superintendent, Sean McDaniel.

Taylor cited Oklahoma Senate invoice 658, arguing masks can not be mandated unless there is a state of emergency declared by the governor.

“Perfectly, that was not the scenario. It was just normally about the rule of legislation. And as I mentioned in my testimony, if the rule of law is ignored, then we no lengthier have a republic, we have tyranny and that is what the base line is,” he explained.

Teacher Grace Trick said the firing was “stunning” to her. The Argentina indigenous claimed she “by no means thought this would transpire in the United States of The united states.” 

In Argentina, she mentioned she witnessed politicians act as although they ended up “higher than the law.”

“I was just deeply saddened to see anyone in electricity feel that they’re over the legislation and when I grew to become a United States citizen, I took an oath to follow the law. We as educators need to be the moral illustration for pupils to adhere to,” she additional.

Grace’s husband, Nelson, was also fired and is looking for a instructing occupation somewhere else.

Kevin Stitt, governor of Oklahoma, speaks in the course of a conference with U.S. President Donald Trump and governors in the Condition Eating Place of the White Household in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, June 18, 2020. Trump today seized on a pair of Supreme Courtroom defeats on homosexual rights and immigration this 7 days to rally his conservative base, pledging to redouble his attempts to renovate federal courts. Photographer: Chris Kleponis/Polaris/Bloomberg by way of Getty Illustrations or photos
(Chris Kleponis/Polaris/Bloomberg through Getty Visuals)

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Blake Sonne, a lawyer representing the lecturers, said the superintendent is “politicizing the issue,” disputing that the district is in legal grounds to fireplace the lecturers.

“It is seriously a travesty, actually. We’re at a instructor scarcity in Oklahoma. And we have five superb tenured instructors that had been just permit go because the superintendent and now the faculty board determined that they ended up previously mentioned the law,” he explained.

McDaniel, following recommending the firings in August, explained the lecturers “crossed what I believe that to be statutory traces and expectations for our educators.”

“When I grew to become aware clearly that these academics were unwilling to do that, to just take this future phase to put on a mask, recognizing that it would decrease the threat of exposure to COVID, that’s what prompted me to say they have violated the expectations of overall performance and perform of teaching,” he said.