Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich warned the U.S. Education Department that he would fight any effort by the federal government to block the state’s ban on mask mandates in schools, which goes into effect at the end of September.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona announced on Monday that the department’s civil rights office is investigating whether five states — Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah — are violating the rights of disabled students by barring school districts from requiring masks.
Mr. Cardona said the department also will be keeping an eye on Arizona, but has not opened an investigation because its mask mandate ban is not scheduled to go into effect until Sept. 29.
Still, Mr. Brnovich wrote on Tuesday, “my office will not tolerate any effort from the federal government to undermine or interfere with Arizona’s sovereignty. We stand ready to defend against any overreach.”
