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As students and teachers in the United States return to the classroom amid surging cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant, the debate over mask mandates has turned to the schools. The Biden administration’s Department of Education said Tuesday it will investigate whether the Texas Education Agency is violating federal law by barring mask mandates and preventing students with disabilities from safely returning to in-person classes. The DOE has launched similar investigations in Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah. Disability rights concerns are also the focus of lawsuits by parents and civil rights groups around the country, including in Texas. We go to San Antonio to speak with Julia Longoria, whose 8-year-old daughter Juliana has asthma. She has joined other parents in a new federal lawsuit against Texas and Republican Governor Greg Abbott over his executive order banning face mask mandates, which the Texas Education Agency started following Friday.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! Audio and was authored by Democracy Now!.