Two District 186 teachers say they are standing on “principle” in their refusal to submit to either of two alternatives put in place in an effort to protect the larger school community from the continuing dangerous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This “principle,” such as it is, has directed them to reject not only a vaccine that the medical and scientific community has found to be both safe and effective, but to also refuse a simple, free, non-invasive test that would at least provide an early warning if their vaccine defiance poses an immediate risk to others.
By refusing to accept either of these alternatives, both teachers are on unpaid leave and are facing the prospect of being fired from their jobs. They and their supporters made an appeal to the Springfield school board this week, urging that they not lose their jobs over the stand they’ve chosen to take.
In other words, they want to stand on principle, and they don’t want any consequences as a result. Gosh, standing on principle would be easy if you could do it with impunity, and everyone would just let you have your way.
But in this case, their stand seems to be based on fundamental misinterpretation of both the law and the science. They don’t believe the law allows a vaccine mandate to be imposed – ironic, given that they both work in a school system that has for decades mandated various vaccinations of students. And there is plenty of case law upholding vaccine rules in order to protect the public health and safety.
The teachers are relying on an Illinois law called the “Health Care Right of Conscience Act.” It was initially designed to allow doctors and pharmacists to refuse to participate in any kind of health care procedure or decision that goes against their own moral and religious beliefs. That law was bad enough when it simply allowed a pharmacist to refuse to fill a woman’s lawful birth control prescription, because the pharmacist doesn’t like birth control. Now these teachers and their supporters want to give themselves a built-in right to reject inconvenient medical and public health guidance because it offends them.
Both the courts and the legislature may ultimately weigh in on that reading of the law. But the science is far less vague. The vaccine works. And testing is a valuable tool to protect vulnerable populations from further spread of a potentially deadly contagion.
In the public comments to the school board this week, supporters of these teachers compared the vaccination and testing rules to war crimes, Nazism, and Jim Crow laws. They claimed the vaccine isn’t a vaccine at all, that testing doesn’t work, and that perhaps the vaccinated are the true super-spreaders.
Simply put, this is all nonsense. To believe what this vocal minority is selling, you would have to believe that nearly the entire medical and public health community in this country is either unwittingly, or willingly, deceiving you, but this ragtag group of average citizens in Springfield, Illinois, armed with Facebook memes and YouTube videos, has cracked the conspiracy and brought the truth to light.
Or just maybe the doctors and scientists are right, and the amateur medical sleuths have gotten this one wrong. That seems like a safer bet, when the health and wellbeing of students, teachers, and other school staff are at stake.
One of the teachers who may be fired for her stand told the school board that she “influences” kids in good ways. In asking the board not to fire her, she said, “These kids need me.” Perhaps. But perhaps they also need a reminder that we don’t exist in a vacuum. Our actions affect others. And our principles can’t be just about what we want, when we want it. We are sometimes called upon to do things we might rather not do, because it’s for the greater benefit of all of us.
If your “principles” don’t allow you to do that, so be it. But recognize that your stand will carry consequences. Stand up for your principles, but don’t be surprised when the school board and administration stand up for theirs as well.
