Back to school mask guidance from CDC guide fewer districts than ever

The CDC undermined its own authority on school masking, and taught schools to ignore its own guidance

Nat Malkus is a senior fellow and the deputy director of education policy at the American Enterprise Institute.

Why are so few districts masking now? Because the CDC undermined its own authority on school masking, and taught schools to ignore its own guidance.

Last summer, during July 2021’s delta variant surge, the CDC tightened school masking guidelines to recommend universal indoor masking in schools across the country. In September 2021, four in ten students were in districts that ignored CDC guidance and kept masks optional. Despite stark changes in the pandemic threat over the course of the school year, four in five students were in districts that maintained their mask policies into February.