Do California Parents Really Support School Mask and Vaccine Mandates?

Trust People's Actions Over the Polls

There's a new poll from the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies claiming to show that "two-to-one majorities of the state's voters approve…" of Vaccine and Mask mandates for schools. It shows support for mask mandates for the remainder of this school year by a 65 to 32 margin and making the Covid-19 vaccine mandatory for school attendance by a similar 64 to 32 margin!

Or as the LA Times put it:

Los Angeles Times @latimes

California voters strongly support mask and vaccine mandates in K-12 schools

latimes.comCalifornia voters strongly support mask and vaccine mandates in K-12 schoolsThe poll suggests broad public support for policies aimed at reducing the spread of the coronavirus in schools, even as protests against mask and vaccine mandates garner attention.

I'm sorry but I don't buy it. I trust the actions of Californians more than I trust the polls.

As far as mask mandates go, we are currently witnessing a precipitous cascade of opposition to mandates as school board after school board across California defy the Governor's school mask mandate. Over two dozen school districts in 12 California counties have already voted to not enforce the Governor's mandate. More are adopting these policies every day. All of this has occurred in just the last two weeks, and it's spreading like wildfire faster than the Governor can react to it.

Here's a master thread summarizing all the districts to act so far:

Reopen California Schools @ReopenCASchools

This is a master thread documenting all the school districts offering students mask choice. Please let me know if any are missing. First, we have @RJUHSD which kicked off the mask choice wave we’re seeing. https://t.co/FfzKGXJX1r

Jonathan Zachreson @JZachreson

BREAKING: In a 4-0 vote, RJUHSD passes a resolution giving mask-choice to students effective 2/15, when the state-wide indoor mask mandate expires. Almost all public comment in a packed board meeting favored mask-choice. Very proud of my kids’ home school district!

These school board actions are the direct reaction to a groundswell of opposition from parents to forcing their kids to be masked. Yet we are supposed to believe that school mask mandates have 2 to 1 support?

As for the vaccine mandates, here are the current age demographics for California's vaccine uptake:

Just 30% of kids 5 to 11 are fully vaccinated. That rate is 65% for 12 to 17, but that still leaves a large fraction who would be ineligible for school if a mandate was in effect. Are we really supposed to believe that parents of elementary school kids are choosing by a 2 to 1 ratio not to vaccinate their kids, while voters overall support mandating vaccines by 2 to 1. Could the views of parents be that far off from the overall electorate? The cross tabs in the poll showed 55% support from parents of school aged children, but that simply doesn't comport with the actions of parents across the state.

Why Covid Vaccine Mandates Are Terrible Policy

Or take the kids out of it. 80% of adults in California are fully vaccinated. It's probably safe to assume that the 20% who aren't vax'd wouldn't support a mandate. Are we to believe that 64% of out 80, which equates to 80% of vaccinated Californians, support mandates? I find that hard to believe.

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When you dive into the poll, the nature of the questioning may shed some light on how the results came about.

The question on masking is phrased as follow:

They prime for an answer by stating what the state requires. They may as well ask, "The state says masks work, do you support them?"

Scott "My Mask is in my OTHER Left Hand" Davison @scottyd121

So when they then ask the question: "Do you approve or disapprove of this requirement?" ...you are instead deciding whether you disagree with the State - aka the "experts" who say that masks work and are necessary to keep schools open. 3/14 escholarship.org/uc/item/0669t7…

The vaccine questioning is even worse:

They literally prime for an answer by alluding to the Covid-19 vaccine just being like the MMR vaccine. A complete fallacy. What if they had explained it the opposite way and stated that unlike MMR the Covid-19 vaccine is non-sterilizing. Would they have gotten the same result? I have a hunch that after hearing this question many who are polled decide not to risk being seen as an "anti-vaxxer" by saying they don't support the mandate.

Scott "My Mask is in my OTHER Left Hand" Davison @scottyd121

PS - vax mandate Q is even worse than the mask Q. Imagine if instead of leading with "we mandate MMR vax, why not COVID-19?" it had said: "Unlike the MMR vaccine, the COVID-19 vaccine does not prevent infection or transmission. Should we still mandate it in schools?" 14/14

This seems like a push poll.

And there's another tell when you look at some of the other questions. The poll also asked:

What a softball question for school administrators/teachers. What should schools do?, shutdown or have "flexibility"... How about STAY OPEN?!

If I were polled I would have said, "Neither! Schools should make every effort to keep schools open. Online schooling should not be an option."

But that wasn't a valid answer to the poll question, and of course the polls promotes this question by stating:

“By a greater than two-to-one margin voters believe schools should be given the flexibility to decide when to continue in-person instruction rather than adopting a policy of requiring that in-person instruction be canceled when Covid cases rise above a certain threshold.”

The press release omits that poll participants were not given the option to express that schools should remain open if at all possible. This sets up the false impression that parents are happy to have schools closed if the teachers demand it. The pollsters were happy to promote that schools and teachers need "flexibility". It's almost like the Teacher's Union had a hand in this poll...

Well maybe not, but their leader was certainly happy to promote it...

Randi Weingarten @rweingarten

Interesting poll… California voters strongly support mask and vaccine mandates in K-12 schools

latimes.comCalifornia voters strongly support mask and vaccine mandates in K-12 schoolsThe poll suggests broad public support for policies aimed at reducing the spread of the coronavirus in schools, even as protests against mask and vaccine mandates garner attention.

She makes this claim even as the actions of California's parents contradict her at every turn. But you can't expect much better from a clueless union stooge like Randi.

Anyway 0 and 2…