Contact Knox County Mayor, Commission, School Board Members and Gov. Lee

Dear [Elected Officials]:

[share why children safe in schools following CDC public health guidance is important to you personally]

Will you do your part to stop the political attacks on public health? What will you do to keep all children safe in school, no exceptions, no cop-outs?

What will it take for you to reject the political threats, and listen to doctors not politicians, and fully adopt the guidance of the AAP, CDC, including the temporary mask requirements they call for, so that our children will be safer in school and avoid the disruption to school and business that come from preventable exposure?

- your name

OTHER IDEAS AND POINTS

 

  • There are not two equal sides to the 'masking' debate. There is the side of all our nation’s top children’s doctors, infectious disease experts, and the majority of Americans calling for ALL children to be safe in school, with no exceptions and no cop-outs. And then there is the side of endangering all our kids over ridiculous political hyperbole.
  • All children deserve to be safe in school, and ALL children in school should have equal protection from COVID, regardless of their color, place or politics of their parents, no exceptions, no cop-outs.
  • This is why Gov. Lee’s “fend for yourself” approach to COVID failed: The health of one child is affected by the person next to them - and the person next to that person.
  • Mask requirements called for by our country’s leading health professionals, with 🚫 exceptions or cop-outs, is how we keep COVID out of school, kids safer IN classrooms, & families at work instead of home w/ sick kids.
  • Gov. Lee’s ‘fend for yourself’ approach to COVID abandoned parents, teachers, business owners and now children, to fight this pandemic all on their own.
  • While some politicians and political groups protest school board meetings and blame others to distract from their own failures to deliver for Tennesseans; we know that when we go all in for all for all of us, no matter our color, politics or place in TN, we keep ALL our children safer in school and all our more safe at work.
  • We are supposed to get through tough times by pulling through together.  Instead, Gov. Lee ignored health professionals, suppressed vital life saving guidance, spread misinformation and pit us against each other.
  • The consequence: our kids are being ripped back out of school and parents away from work because of a worsening covid outbreak filling our hospitals and endangering the health and wellbeing of us all.

 

Other Questions to Consider Asking Opponents to CDC's Public Health Guidance:

  • How many avoidable hospitalizations will it take before you change decide to put the health and wellbeing of our children first?
  • If temporary mask requirements can save just one child's life don't you agree it is worth it? why not?
  • If you ignore CDC and American Academy of Pediatric Health Guidance for safe school reopening you will be responsible for needlessly endangering children in our community. How many hospitalized children would it take for you to change your mind and start following the recommendations of health experts?
  • My children should have the freedom and liberty to go to school without others needlessly endangering them by refusing to follow the health guidance, will you stand up for my child's life, liberty from those choosing to endanger them?
  • If refusing to follow the CDC guidance and Academy of Pediatrics guidance to do a temporary mask requirement leads to the death of a child, you're okay with that? what will you say to the parents?

Other optional points to consider making:

  • in the past year and a half we have seen that whether we’re Black or White, from East, Middle or West Tennessee, the health of one depends on the health of the person next to them, and the person next to that person.
  • After months of Gov. Bill Lee passing the buck and telling local communities to fend for themselves, we’ve seen vaccinations lag the country and now the consequence: a worsening COVID-19 outbreak of the more dangerous ‘Delta” variant, right as school is about to begin.
  • People are entitled to their freedom and liberty, but when the actions of one can endanger the wellbeing of others, it is your job to protect those who cannot always protect themselves.  In this crisis the health of one child affects the health of the child next to them.  The political attacks on public health threatening the life and liberty of children in our schools is not acceptable.
  • Some politicians and political groups seek to turn us toward going it alone while stoking fear of life-saving vaccinations and temporary mask requirements. But we believe that most Tennesseeans care about more than just themselves, which is why the CDC guidance has worked before. Together, vaccines and temporary mask requirements have proved effective at keeping COVID largely out of schools, keeping children safe in the classroom, and more businesses open with parents at work instead of stuck at home quarantining.
  • With the virus variants and number of COVID cases in our community increasing, particularly the delta variant, which has proven to be more highly transmissible and infectious than previous variants, how can you stand for the ongoing rejection of common sense and science?
  • Vaccinated people can still become sick and spread disease, and the state's failure to adequately increase vaccinations sufficient to reach herd immunity is endangering children and our state's recovery.