Thousands of New York City public school teachers face the prospect of being fired by the end of Friday after a panel of federal judges al...
Thousands of New York City public school teachers face the prospect of being fired by the end of Friday after a panel of federal judges allowed the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio to impose a vaccine mandate.
A federal appeals panel on Monday gave the nation's largest school district the green light to require all employees of city public schools to get vaccinated - or lose their jobs.
Lawyers for teachers who sued to stop the city's policy now say they'll ask the US Supreme Court to intervene. The New York Department of Education employs 148,000 school workers, including 75,000 teachers.
Around 90 per cent of teachers have been vaccinated - meaning more than 7,500 have not. Vaccination rates among other school workers are currently running at 82 per cent, meaning thousands of support staff could also face the ax.
The city's Department of Education said the mandate would now go into effect at the end of Friday, so that all teachers and staff would be vaccinated by October 4, the following Monday.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (seen above at Rikers Island correctional facility on Monday) claimed victory after a panel of three federal judges allowed his administration to move forward with a vaccine mandate requiring Department of Education employees to get the shot
Lawyers for teachers who sued to stop the policy warn that it will lead to mass layoffs of thousands. The image above shows an anti-vaccine protest in New York's Foley Square on September 13
New York City Department of Education employees have until the end of Friday to get at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine - or face termination. The image above is a stock photo of a woman getting vaccinated
The three-judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan issued a brief order late in the day that lifted a block of the mandate that a single appeals judge had put in place on Friday.
After an adverse ruling from a Brooklyn judge, a group of teachers had brought the case to the appeals court, which assigned a three-judge panel to hear oral arguments Wednesday.
But the appeals panel issued its order Monday after written arguments were submitted by both sides.
Attorney Mark Fonte, who brought the lawsuit on behalf of teachers and others, said in a statement that he and attorney Louis Gelormino were immediately petitioning the Supreme Court to intervene.
'As of this moment the mandate is in place,' he said, adding that he and Gelormino were 'dismayed and disappointed by this turn of events.'
Fonte added: 'With thousands of teachers not vaccinated the City may regret what it wished for. Our children will be left with no teachers and no security in schools.'
As of Monday, 87 percent of all Department of Education employees have been vaccinated, including 90 percent of teachers, de Blasio said
The city's Department of Education said in its statement, 'Vaccinations are our strongest tool in the fight against COVID-19 - this ruling is on the right side of the law and will protect our students and staff.'
Mayor de Blasio announced in August that about 148,000 school employees would have to get at least a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination by September 27.
The policy covers teachers, along with other staffers, such as custodians and cafeteria workers.
The practical effect of the mandate was that teachers and other employees would have been unable to work, beginning Tuesday, if they had failed to get vaccinated.
As of Monday, 87 percent of all Department of Education employees have been vaccinated, including 90 percent of teachers, de Blasio said.
But United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said a survey of some of its members found that only a third thought their schools could open without disruption.
Since the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, more than 11 million doses have been administered in New York City, according to public health data
As of Monday, nearly 70 percent of city residents of all ages have received at least one dose
De Blasio also touted his vaccine mandate, which appears to have spurred more New Yorkers to get inoculated. The latest data shows a considerable increase in the rate of vaccination since the mayor announced the mandate in August
'The city has a lot of work before it to ensure that enough vaccinated staff will be available by the new deadline,' he said in a statement.
Lawyers for teachers argued Monday in papers submitted to the 2nd Circuit that teachers who are placed on unpaid leave because they have not complied with the order will be irreparably harmed if the appeals court failed to block the mandate.
The lawyers wrote that the city's order will 'leave teachers and paraprofessionals without the resources to pay rent, utilities, and other essentials. The harm is imminent.'
They said the mandate would leave thousands of New York City children in the nation's largest school district without their teachers and other school workers.
'Imminent and irreparable harm exists,' the lawyers insisted.
On Sunday, the city submitted written arguments to the appeals court, saying the preference by some teachers 'to remain unvaccinated while teaching vulnerable schoolchildren is dwarfed by the public's interest in safely resuming full school operations for a million public school students and ensuring that caregivers citywide can send their children to school secure in the knowledge that sound safety protocols are in place.'
City lawyers said courts have long recognized that vaccination mandates do not spoil the constitutional rights to due process that workers enjoy and have rejected similar challenges for over a century.
'Put bluntly, plaintiffs do not have a substantive due process right to teach children without being vaccinated against a dangerous infectious disease,' they wrote.
The city has reported a seven-day average of fewer than 2,000 cases per day in recent weeks
Deaths remain low thanks to the vaccination campaign, according to city health data
Hospitalizations have also remained at a low level since the vaccines were introduced
'The vaccination mandate is not just a rational public health measure, but a crucial one.'
The mayor on Monday reacted to the ruling on Twitter.
'Our school employee vaccination mandate protects kids, families, and the incredible New Yorkers working in our schools,' the mayor tweeted on Monday.
'This requirement has won in court repeatedly and in the meantime, @NYCSchools employees need to get vaccinated or get a weekly test.'
De Blasio also touted his vaccine mandate, which appears to have spurred more New Yorkers to get inoculated.
The latest data shows a considerable increase in the rate of vaccination since the mayor announced the mandate in August.
According to the city's Department of Health, the average number of shots per day has increased 45 percent since the mayor announced his initiative.
'Critics and naysayers are loud but the numbers are louder: vaccines work,' the mayor tweeted on Monday.
'Our #COVID mandates have encouraged New Yorkers to do the right thing and put the health and safety of their city first.'
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