Dupage Policy Journal

State Senate candidate Kathleen Murray said Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mask policies have turned school classrooms into prisons for some students.

Pritzker announced Wednesday afternoon that he could lift the mask mandate for places of business on Feb. 28, but that he would still require them for schools and prisons. That's five days after a Sangamon County judge declared his statewide "emergency" school mandate school rules "null and void."

"Gov J.B. Pritzker finally demonstrated some consistency in logic when he paired prisons and school classrooms together as exceptions to his plan to lift mask mandates this month," said Murray, in a written statement. "They have, after all, become one and the same under his and Democrat legislators’ watch." 


Murray is running as a Republican for the newly-drawn 21st State Senate district, which includes Lombard, Glen Ellyn, and parts of Wheaton, Lisle and Naperville. 

Her opponent is State Sen. Laura Ellman (D-Naperville).

"While I commend the educators that are respecting their students’ freedom and well-being, there are still school administrators emboldened by the Governor’s lead and flouting (Sangamon County Judge Raylene) Grischow’s ruling who have duly demonstrated that their transformation from educators to wardens is complete," Murray said.

Under mounting pressure from Grischow’s ruling, which slammed Pritzker’s mask mandate as “evil,” hundreds of school districts in the state have now gone mask-optional, including Wheaton CUSD 200, Addison SD 4, Addison HSD 88, Elmhurst SD 205, Hinsdale CCSD 181, Lombard SD 44 and Villa Park SD 45.

“Statutory rights have attempted to be bypassed through the issuance of Executive Orders and Emergency Rules … This type of evil is exactly what the law was intended to constrain," Grischow wrote.

"Many students across Illinois in schools which moved to an optional policy have been met this week with physical segregation, isolation, scorn, and lectures for exercising their right to remove their masks," Murray said. "In certain school environments, the implicit understanding of students is that their grades and consequentially their academic futures may be negatively impacted by those teachers who have made their expectations of wearing masks known."

"Students continue to pay the price of being pawns in a political game," she said. "Schools are to be a nurturing safe zone to encourage emotional and cognitive development, not a hostile environment causing stress and anxiety. Many children are afraid to stand up and exercise their rights fearing consequences of those teachers with opposing views. These children are put in an unacceptable position of choosing between ignoring their rights or possibly risking their academic future." 

Murray said voters won’t forget the Illinois legislators who supported school mask policies.

"It is time for Illinois policy makers, media, and school administrators to do what countless parents and students across the state have done: call out and stand against the controlling and abusive environments that have infected our school systems over the past two years," Murray said. "Illinoisans will remember and hold accountable those who do not stand up now, as any delay perpetuates the damage to students’ education and psychological well-being. 

"Unfortunately, Democrat lawmakers will not, as they are waiting for the right time before the midterms to lift all restrictions and grandstand how they ‘returned’ our freedoms, she said. “It is no coincidence that the science is apparently good enough now to permit democratic lawmakers to wine and dine their donors mask-less, but not quite good enough to spare our students from predatory jailors.”

Last week, Murray said Pritzker finally seemed to be "getting the message" that Illinoisans are fatigued after two years of his mandates. 

Hundreds of parents attended a Naperville School District 203 board meeting on Monday night, demanding the end to follow state law and end mask mandates there.

In Glen Ellyn, school district leaders criticized students who called for an end to forced masking at Glenbard West H.S. A Glen Ellyn District 41 school board member was caught mask-less at a Naperville coffee shop after demanding students stay masked in school.

Ellman has made several public comments since the Grischow ruling, but none addressing Pritzker's school mask mandate.

On Feb. 5, she made a Facebook post on Black History month, asking voters to "commit ourselves to acknowledging and uplifting the rich, diverse and intersecting legacies of Black people in America." 

On Feb. 8, Ellman and State Rep. Janet Yang Rohr (D-Naperville) participated in a Black History Month Facebook interview with Black Lives Matter activist Regina Brent of Chicago and on Feb. 9 she spoke out on "Burn Awareness Week."