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Opinion | Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton really, REALLY does not want schools to require students to wear masks | Richard Ransom

“Politicians are playing doctor again. They can't help themselves.”

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In Monday’s Ransom Note: politicians playing doctor again. They can't help themselves. Here's Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton on what happens if any school district decides to require masks this year, as Shelby County Schools already has done.

“I sure hope that school systems do not require a mask mandate for those students. And, if they do, I'm gonna ask the Governor for a special session.”

So, if doctor, I mean if Speaker Sexton means what he says, it looks like we can expect Tennessee lawmakers to be called in for a special session because he knows better than the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics, guidance Shelby County Schools are following.

Of course, Speaker Sexton has his chest out on this because of those TCAP test scores. Yes, the scores are abysmal, but no one should be surprised. They were abysmal well before the pandemic. A pandemic, by the way, still very much around us, whose numbers are rivaling anything we've seen, especially among our children and why Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson also wants a special session, but he wants to allow schools to require masks if needed. Imagine, a politician who's not playing doctor.

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