I’ve been told since Kindergarten that our district doesn’t have enough money to function. Field trips are nonexistent, school WiFi only connects to the school-issued laptops and some of my textbooks are older than I am. 

Yet a group of teachers is suing District 7 over vaccine mandates, to the detriment of their students and coworkers. 

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, there are a total of ten teachers filing the suit. Six of these teachers work for the Edwardsville school district, and the other four work for the Triad school district. 

They claim that the vaccine mandate for educators is illegal and the district has no right to prevent them from teaching because of their noncompliance. 

But the district didn’t create this mandate.  

The district’s website says that “District 7 will continue to require immunizations which are required by the Illinois Department of Health.” 

It’s been clearly stated that the district will comply with the government’s orders, which were altered this fall. 

In Executive Order 2021-22, released on Sept. 3, Gov. J.B. Pritzker stated that all school personnel in Illinois should have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 19. Weekly negative COVID-19 tests are required for unvaccinated staff members. 

So why attack our school district for enforcing Illinois law? 

It’s counterproductive. Sure, they’ll attract more local attention than if they join the hoards of people suing the Illinois government right now, but at what cost? 

All this will do is waste taxpayers’ money. Instead of the funds going to beneficial causes, like textbooks or upgraded technology, the district will have to use this money to defend against a senseless lawsuit. 

Apparently, these teachers feel that getting their point across is worth hurting their students and community members. It seems like the opposite mindset that an educator should have, but I guess that the pandemic has made people lose their rationale.

Besides all the inconveniences the lawsuit will cause the community, the suit is illogical. But it’s hard to expect a lawsuit that cites Fox News, the hub of all things anti-vax, as a source to be logical.

If we want the pandemic to end, the necessary measures to fight it must be taken. That means getting vaccinated so schools can be as safe as possible for both teachers and students. 

There’s a reason that polio and smallpox have been eradicated in America, and it’s vaccines. Maybe these teachers need to go back to history class.