The 'Science' Behind School Masking Suffers Another Blow

I've written about this issue on multiple occasions, and I've made my position clear. I'm not fanatically opposed to kids wearing masks in schools -- and still view that non-optimal outcome as strongly preferable to repeating last academic year's "virtual learning" disaster that harmed so many children. But not requiring students to mask up, or at least offering exceptions and opt-outs for parents, seems like an entirely reasonable public policy call for officials to make. If data were to emerge that masks are significantly effective in stopping the virus from spreading in schools, that would be one thing. We should always be open to data. But as we've covered before, the furious attacks against Republican governors like Florida's Ron DeSantis for opposing universal mask mandates in schools seem more rooted in politics, emotion, and superstition than actual science.