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Instead of getting up and heading to work this Monday morning, thousands of employees in New York City’s public schools face unemployment. After Mayor Bill de Blasio issued an order requiring educators to be vaccinated by Friday, October 1 or lose their jobs, a group of these individuals petitioned the Supreme Court on Thursday to block the order. The court’s answer: “No.” As the nation grapples with debates over mask and vaccine mandates, the battle is having real-time consequences for many Americans.
SCOTUS Rejects Teachers’ Plea
On Thursday, Sept. 30, teachers filed their request with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the judge assigned to handle emergency petitions from the region. The group argued that the measure would infringe upon a teacher’s right to pursue an occupation. They also claimed the city is applying the order unfairly; it does not impact other city employees who have regular interactions with the public. Firefighters and police officers are not affected by the order. The group asserted that teachers “maintain close indoor contact with children, who are dramatically less susceptible to illness from Covid.”
The educators also noted that the order gives other city employees the option to take weekly COVID tests if they wish to remain unvaccinated. According to the United Federation of Teachers, even though most teachers have taken at least one dose of the injection, as the measure requires, the mandate would likely leave schools understaffed.
(Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Nevertheless, Sotomayor on Friday declined to grant the injunction against de Blasio’s mandate, meaning that it will go into effect on Monday as intended. The measure requires all school district employees to submit proof that they have taken at least one dose of the vaccine or be subject to unpaid leave until September 2022.
Sotomayor did not provide an explanation for refusing the emergency request, nor did she refer it to the full court to review. “Justice Amy Coney Barrett made a similar decision in August when she rejected a request to block Indiana University’s vaccine mandate,” according to Axios.
Attorneys representing the teachers released a statement after Sotomayor’s decision:
“We are extremely disappointed with the decision of the United State Supreme Court. The voices of our teachers deserved to be heard. Vaccine mandates for adults has not been argued before the court in over a century. These unconstitutional edicts will continue throughout the nation until our Courts decide to hear our argument that the Government has gone too far. Our children are the ones who will suffer the most. The teachers that our kids are so fond of will no longer be in the classroom. The safety of our children will be compromised with the absence of school safety officers. The public school system, like the rest of the city, will be tragically degraded by these mayoral decisions. May God help our teachers and children.”
What’s Next?
There are no indications as to what will happen next with this case. As of now, the emergency challenge has been struck down, but with the school season returning and more vaccine mandates being imposed, it seems possible that at least one of these cases might be taken up by the Supreme Court. The debate over these measures has been intensifying since the Delta variant emerged, and at this point, it is safe to say it will not be settling down anytime soon.
~ Read more from Jeff Charles.
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