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- School officials who have their pay withheld over defying state mask mandate bans will be reimbursed.
- President Joe Biden announced Thursday that the federal government will restore 100% of pay to educators.
- The announcement is a seeming response to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' previous threats to withhold salaries.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
While announcing a series of new, stricter federal COVID-19 initiatives on Thursday, President Joe Biden said the Department of Education will restore "100%' of pay to teachers and school officials who are punished for "doing the right thing."
The announcement is a seemingly targeted response to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's ongoing showdown with state school officials and educators over mask requirements in classrooms. Earlier this summer, the Republican leader signed an executive order banning mask mandates in Florida schools, setting off a battle over parents' rights and the proven COVID-19 mitigation method.
As multiple districts throughout the state voted to flout the governor's restrictive law, DeSantis threatened to withhold pay from school officials who defied the executive order.
During his Thursday speech, Biden said that he would use his "power as president" to get defiant governors "out of the way."
"Right now, local school officials are trying to keep children safe in a pandemic while their governor picks a fight with them and even threatens their salaries or their jobs," Biden said. "Talk about bullying in schools."
-President Biden (@POTUS) September 9, 2021
The president said the Department of Education has already begun taking legal action against states that are undermining coronavirus protection that school officials have ordered.
He promised that any teacher or school officials whose pay is withheld for "doing the right thing," will be compensated by the federal government 100%.
"I promise you, I will have your back," he said.
A representative from DeSantis' office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Biden also urged governors to require vaccination for all teachers and staff.
"Vaccination requirements in schools are nothing new," he said. "They work."
The president's speech comes one day after DeSantis lost his latest bid to ban mask mandates in school. On Wednesday, a Florida judge ruled that the state must stop enforcing the governor's ban, allowing districts to require masks while the case is being appealed in a higher court.
That ruling came weeks after the same judge ruled DeSantis did not have the authority to issue the mask ban.
Following the Wednesday ruling, mask mandate bans across Florida were immediately lifted, though several schools had already defied the order, imposing mask mandates in spite of the law.
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