A collection of parent advocacy groups said in an open letter to the governor that they refuse to “co-parent with the government” any longer, demanding that masks never again be required for their children.
Thirty-six parent groups, including Let Them Learn and Let Them Play, recently published a letter addressed to both Gov. Tim Walz and President Joe Biden. The groups represent over 30,000 Minnesota families who say they “have watched the last week unfold in abject horror,” referring to repeated calls for mask mandates in schools.
“We are here to inform you that your uninvited reign of destruction over the children of Minnesota is finished,” the letter says.
The parent groups claim Walz is aware of the political nature of continued masking, as well as the fact that it “is not rooted in science.”
“Effective immediately,” the groups say they will refuse to mask their children in schools or let them be victims of another lockdown. They will no longer allow government leaders to “use private sector counterparts to enforce invasive mask mandates on our children in various stores or at community activities.”
“Simply put, these are not your children,” the letter continues. “They are ours, and they, too, are Americans with rights.”
The parent groups say they “applaud and support” the various organizations and school boards that have allowed them to make their own decisions about the best options for their children.
“We are in control. We have never and will never co-parent with the government,” the letter declares.
Late last month, Walz advised local school districts to once again consider mandating masks for students and staff regardless of vaccination status.
Let Them Play MN, one group that signed the letter, sued the Walz administration last spring over its “complete fabrication” of risks associated with youth sports and the rules it imposed on student athletes.
Let Them Learn MN, another nonprofit that signed the letter, was very involved in getting kids back in the classroom without masks when most schools were distance learning last fall and winter.
Other groups that are rejecting mask mandates by signing the open letter include Reopen Minnesota Schools, Conservative Teachers of Minnesota, Hold the Line Minnesota, Open Schools USA, and several groups of parents from school districts across the state.