A St. Louis doula program, part of a nonprofit that received funding in the $1.7 trillion federal budget bill, looks for solutions in a benefit largely associated with affluent white women.ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Tara Ervin will never forget the week her sister Kelly died.It was July 1996 and Kelly, 34 weeks pregnant, was in the emergency room with swollen feet and what the doctors said was likely a bladder infection. She was sent home with antibiotics but returned less than 48 hours later in worse shape, vomiting profusely. A blood test confirmed the worst as Kelly’s doctors rushed to deliver her son by emergency cesarean. They told her family they were sorry, they had done everything they could to save her.An otherwise healthy 28-year-old had died from toxemia poisoning caused by pre-eclampsia, a serious complication of pregnancy that went untreated. Friends showed up at Kelly’s baby shower the next day, only to learn she was gone. Kelly’s family put photos of her newborn in her coffin.“I thought that was something that only happened in the movies,” Ms. Ervin said in a recent interview, vowing that her sister’s death would not be in vain. “I don’t want any other family to endure the trauma we endured.”Today Ms. Ervin is a certified doula at a St. Louis-based childhood development nonprofit that is part of a movement fighting a growing maternal mortality health crisis among Black women, who suffer and die at a higher rate — as a result of substandard maternal care and racial biases — than their white counterparts.The nonprofit, Parents as Teachers, is in a network of more than one dozen “home visiting” programs that won a large funding increase in the $1.7 trillion spending bill that Congress passed late last year.By providing the doulas, who offer nonmedical support to mothers before, during and after delivery, the program is extending a benefit largely associated with white and affluent women to predominantly Black, low-income mothers in St. Louis who would not otherwise know about it or be able to afford it. Unlike certified nurse midwives who deliver babies, doulas offer guidance on pain or complications ahead of delivery and help clients navigate hospitals and doctors — exactly the problems that Kelly experienced. Continuous guidance from a doula has been cited as one of the most effective interventions in easing pregnancy.“I don’t want any other family to endure the trauma we endured,” said Ms. Ervin, whose sister died from a serious pregnancy complication.Akilah Townsend for The New York TimesThe goal of the doulas is to go beyond the standard mission of supporting America’s most vulnerable children from “cradle to career.” Instead they start in mothers’ wombs.“Doula support for a Black mother is like giving them a cape,” said Constance Gully, the president and chief executive officer of the Parents as Teachers National Center. The program, she said, teaches mothers to “advocate for their babies beyond the hospital.”The doula program began in St. Louis about four years ago when a group of Black women working at Parents as Teachers noticed a familiar refrain from clients fearful of the health care system.“I don’t want to die,” Aminah Williams, one of the first of the group to be certified as a doula, recalled more than one Black expectant mother telling her.“That shouldn’t be the thing that comes to Black women’s minds,” Ms. Williams said. “And it breaks my heart that it is.”The concerns are not hyperbole. Nationally, Black women are nearly three times more likely to die from a maternal cause than white women: The National Center for Health Statistics reports that in 2020, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was 55.3 deaths per 100,000 live births. The 2020 rate for white women was 19.1 deaths per 100,000 live births.Black women are also more likely to have C-sections, have their pain minimized or ignored, report mistreatment, and have stillbirths than white women.Over the years, mounting research and high-profile cases of fatal or near-fatal experiences — from that of the tennis superstar Serena Williams to an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — have shown that the grim statistics are often a result of a health care system that leaves Black mothers to fend for themselves.“Racial and ethnic inequities in obstetrics and gynecology cannot be reversed without addressing all aspects of racism and racial bias, including sociopolitical forces that perpetuate racism,” the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in a statement last year. “We have an obligation to work to overhaul currently unjust systems that perpetuate unacceptable racial inequities in health outcomes.’’Women who look like usThe five certified doulas at the organization in St. Louis are a rarity — roughly 10 percent of the nation’s doulas are Black women — and see themselves as crucial to their Black patients, including newborns, who some research has shown fare better when treated by Black health care professionals.“I’m Black and I matter to those moms because of it,” said Robin Lloyd, one of the doulas, who almost bled to death after giving birth nearly 20 years ago when she said her concerns were disregarded. “We always matter a little more to those who look like us, who go through what we go through.”“We’re here to make sure they have a good experience when no one else is interested in that,” said Donna Givens, the manager of community partnerships and groups for Parents as Teachers, who was the first certified doula in the St. Louis program.Donna Givens was the first certified doula in the Parents as Teachers program in St. Louis.Akilah Townsend for The New York TimesOn a recent day, Ms. Givens was at a St. Louis maternal homeless shelter, Our Lady’s Inn, leading a support group session with a half-dozen new and expectant mothers.“I wasn’t thinking of myself pregnant in a maternal shelter,” said Kaneisha, 22, who began to cry, and who asked to be identified only by her first name. “But I shouldn’t be judged for having somewhere to lay my head.”One of the other mothers, Diamond, who also asked that only her first name be used, said Kaneisha would not have to worry about that with a doula. Diamond, 21, said she had recently had a vaginal birth after an earlier cesarean, even though her doctors had pressured her against it.“When I said I had a doula, they flipped the script,’’ Diamond said. “They looked at me like, ‘How do you know about that?’ I felt famous.”That same day, Ms. Lloyd hauled a backpack with a doll, a prosthetic breast and a bag of diapers up to an apartment to check on another mother, Alaila Jordan, who had delivered the day before Thanksgiving. Ms. Jordan told Ms. Lloyd that her baby girl was finally gaining weight, but she was still on edge. She worried about where to store her milk supply and had been researching some storage strategies on TikTok.“Please don’t stress yourself out,” Ms. Lloyd said. “And please, please stay off TikTok.”Alaila Jordan said there was a marked difference between talking to Ms. Lloyd and her obstetrician. “It’s nice to have somebody asking about me,” she said. Akilah Townsend for The New York TimesMs. Lloyd pulled out a postpartum depression screening and handed it to Ms. Jordan. The 22-year-old filled it out and handed it back, prompting Ms. Lloyd to lean over to her and ask softly, “So tell me, what can we do to make you feel better?”Ms. Jordan admitted that she was frustrated with her partner and felt unsupported. “I try to hide it and say it’s the breastfeeding, but it’s really that,” she said.Ms. Lloyd promised she would be back to work with the young couple, and that she’d also bring a thermometer after noticing the apartment was too warm for safe sleeping.Ms. Jordan said there was a marked difference between talking to Ms. Lloyd and her obstetrician. “It’s nice to have somebody asking about me,” she said.A birth plan, deliveredImoni Cooper was in the early stages of labor at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis last October and frustrated. The nurses, she recalled, kept asking her to sign paperwork she did not understand, and would not look at her birth plan, which included directions on everything from her epidural to the music she wanted during labor and delivery, that she and Ms. Ervin, her doula, had drawn up.“We all know that as African Americans, they paint us in a different picture — drug addicts, father not there — and treat us accordingly,” Ms. Cooper, 27, said. “So I wasn’t signing nothing, doing nothing.”From the hospital Ms. Cooper was in phone contact with Ms. Ervin, who was not planning to get there until Ms. Cooper was further along in her labor, as was standard practice. But there was something in Ms. Cooper’s voice that made her uneasy.“I’m not doing anything until Ms. Tara gets here,” Ms. Ervin could hear Ms. Cooper tell her medical team.Ms. Ervin, who had conferenced in this reporter on the phone as she raced to Ms. Cooper, said she heard the kind of strain in those words that she knew all too well could lead to fatal outcomes.“Not today,” Ms. Ervin said, part declaration and part prayer, as she started to race toward Barnes-Jewish. “By the time I leave the hospital, I’m going to have a beautiful baby. And a living mama.”Minutes later, Ms. Ervin was at the hospital with Ms. Cooper, where she said the attentiveness of the medical team changed as the nurses took the birthing plan in hand. In a statement, a representative for the health care center said it has collaborated with doulas in the community and has sought to “thoughtfully focus on how to close gaps in maternal health outcomes.”Ms. Cooper with her two daughters at home.Akilah Townsend for The New York TimesMs. Ervin dimmed the lights, walked Ms. Cooper around the hospital three times, then had her bouncing on a birthing ball and inhaling peppermint essential oil fragrances from a towel.When Ms. Cooper was five centimeters dilated, her mother prayed for the baby via FaceTime, as requested. Ms. Cooper held on as long as she could before shouting the code word she and Ms. Ervin had come up with, “cookies,” to ask for an epidural.Then it came time to push. Ms. Ervin was rubbing the back of Dushawn Blakely, Ms. Cooper’s partner and the father of her children, while holding Ms. Cooper’s leg. A baby girl, Denim, was born on Oct. 10 at 9:49 p.m., weighing 7 pounds, to the soundtrack of Ms. Cooper’s favorite gospel song, Kirk Franklin’s “Melodies From Heaven,” just as planned.A close call with pre-eclampsiaSince the doula program started in St. Louis, the women have helped expectant mothers through more than 50 births. The program so far reports that 88 percent of the births have been without complications, 56 percent of mothers participated in two prenatal doula visits, and 88 percent of them began breastfeeding. All reported reduced stress.At least one credits the doula program with saving her life.Kodi Washington, 30, experienced intense swelling in her feet after the birth of her second child last March. The doctors told her that it was normal and should subside in 10 days, and that she should drink water, elevate her feet, and avoid fried food. When it hurt for her to stand up, she sent a picture to her doula, Ms. Givens, who was alarmed and urged her to go to the hospital.Ms. Givens’s fears were confirmed. Ms. Washington was admitted with postpartum pre-eclampsia and dangerously high blood pressure and spent three days in treatment.“If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have ever even gone to the hospital,” she told Ms. Givens in tears on a recent day. “I would have just spent 10 days — dying.”“Wasn’t going to happen,” Ms. Givens replied. “Not on my watch.”Kodi Washington, right, with her daughter and Ms. Givens.Akilah Townsend for The New York Times

In Tennessee, where the governor allows families to ignore school mask mandates, some parents are making excruciating calculations each morning about whether to send their children to school.FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Five years ago, Kim Hart’s son underwent an open-heart surgery that got him healthy enough for the family to move from Cincinnati to this quiet suburb of Nashville. Her son has Down syndrome and autism, and she liked that Williamson County had a reputation for caring neighbors and safe schools.But every day for the past month, she has wondered whether she made a mistake.It was here that an explosive debate over masking in schools — one of the most effective strategies for keeping students learning in person safely during the pandemic — made the county a poster child for divisions over coronavirus safety measures. A video clip of a county school board meeting last month, showing protesters heckling and threatening medical professionals and parents who supported a universal mask mandate as they left the meeting, drew national attention and a rebuke from President Biden.As cases in Tennessee surged — the state was leading the nation in new infections per capita earlier this month — many residents of the predominantly white, wealthy county were left despondent that a piece of fabric had become a political statement.“It’s very dystopian,” Ms. Hart said. “I’m used to arguing with a district to get my kid what he needs. I’m not used to my neighbors screaming at a school board meeting over a mandate that protects everybody.”“I’m used to arguing with a district to get my kid what he needs,” Ms. Hart said.Sarahbeth Maney/The New York Times“I’m not used to my neighbors screaming at a school board meeting over a mandate that protects everybody.”Sarahbeth Maney/The New York TimesAt the high school Ms. Hart’s son attends, data published weekly by the district shows that more than 30 percent of parents have formally opted out of the mask mandate.Sarahbeth Maney/The New York TimesAt the school board’s August meeting, parents who objected to the mandate pleaded with board members to allow them to be the arbiters of their children’s health decisions. Many said they believed that forcing children to wear masks negatively affected their emotional and physical health; some said they did not believe masks had been proven to work at all.One parent, Leigh-Allyn Baker, a self-described “California refugee,” said she gave up a Hollywood career “for freedom, and to come to this friendly place of Tennessee and be greeted with open arms.” Holding up copies of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Federalist Papers and the Bible, Ms. Baker told the board: “These guarantee my freedom, and yours, and my children’s to breathe oxygen.”The opposition to masks has been particularly crushing for parents like Ms. Hart, who see in-person schooling as a lifeline for their children with disabilities. Those students have been among the most underserved during the pandemic but also sometimes face a higher probability that going to school could make them severely ill.Tennessee is one of seven states that the federal Education Department is investigating to determine whether governors’ orders allowing families to flout school mask mandates discriminate against students with disabilities by restricting their access to education.Even though many local school boards, including Williamson County’s, have voted to require universal masking, an executive order issued by Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, allows parents to send their children to school maskless, no questions asked. At the high school Ms. Hart’s son attends, data published weekly by the district shows that more than 30 percent of parents have formally opted out, a percentage that mirrors the district’s overall.“We’ve always known that not everybody really cares about our children, but it is in our face right now — that it’s not worth you asking your child to wear a mask, so my child can be safe,” said Ms. Hart, who is a researcher and a trained epidemiologist. “That is the scar that I will carry from the pandemic, this playing out in my face over and over and over again.”Parents of special education students in two Tennessee counties covering the eastern and western parts of the state have sued to block the governor’s order; one lawsuit has succeeded. A third, covering Williamson County, had a hearing before a judge this week.In the most recent complaint, three lawyers argued that the governor, the Williamson County school board and a carve-out district within the county called the Franklin Special School District, are violating the rights of special education students by allowing parents to opt their children out of the mandate.The suit was filed on behalf of a student with Down syndrome and another with Type 1 diabetes, but seeks protections for all “similarly situated” students. “Defendants’ actions have pitted children against children, while placing the health and safety of medically vulnerable children with disabilities in danger,” the complaint said.A spokeswoman for the governor did not respond to several requests for comment.Becky Peterson with her son at their home in Brentwood, Tenn., last week.Sarahbeth Maney/The New York TimesThe federal scrutiny and legal challenges were welcome news to Becky Peterson, whose 16-year-old son has a rare chromosomal disorder called Dup15q syndrome, as well as autism and epilepsy. At the outset of the pandemic, it seemed that all parents understood the value of the “free appropriate public education” that federal law guarantees special-needs children. “There was somewhat of a level playing field because we were all in the same boat,” she said. “As this has worn on, we’re all in the pandemic, but our boats look very different.”Last fall, her son contracted the coronavirus at school — and that was when there was a mask mandate with no loopholes. Ms. Peterson, a professor, said her son’s bout with the virus was distressing, but not as much as the idea of keeping him home from his school, where more than 37 percent of students are not wearing masks.The gregarious teenager’s communication is limited, but on a recent day he gave hugs and fist bumps as he got off the school bus. One day during remote learning last year, he hugged his computer when his teacher appeared on the screen.Ms. Peterson’s son has a rare chromosomal disorder called Dup15q syndrome, as well as autism and epilepsy.Sarahbeth Maney/The New York TimesEvery morning, Ms. Hart makes excruciating calculations about the risks of sending her nonverbal 18-year-old son to school. He still has residual complications from the congenital heart defect that his surgery sought to correct. And while he recently got the coronavirus vaccine, she worries about breakthrough cases — as a child, he got the chickenpox despite being vaccinated against it.Like other parents of special education students, Ms. Peterson and Ms. Hart also have, between them, hundreds of other reasons to send their children to school: the hours of instruction and services lost to the pandemic, which the district is supposed to make up this year. This week, the school boards of both local districts voted to extend their mask mandates until January. The governor’s opt-out order expires on Oct. 5; he has not indicated whether he plans to renew it. The judge overseeing the Williamson County lawsuit ordered the state to notify the court of its intentions by Oct. 1.In Williamson County, this week’s board meeting was much more civil than the one in August, but just as divided.“All mandates say that I don’t get to choose, but the ruling class does,” Shelby Rollins, a parent who opposes masks, told the board.Laura Coons’s youngest child is not going back to school until he is vaccinated.Sarahbeth Maney/The New York Times“People here are done with the pandemic, but the pandemic is not done with us,” Mrs. Coons said.Sarahbeth Maney/The New York TimesMrs. Coons reviewing class material with her son. She quit her job working for the school system last year because she didn’t feel safe.Sarahbeth Maney/The New York TimesAva Martin, who identified herself as a junior at Independence High School, which has a nearly 40 percent opt-out rate, implored the board to keep the mask mandate. “There’s many people that find masks a violation of their rights,” she said, “but I say it’s a greater violation to ignore those who need us to help them.”District officials acknowledged that the percentage of students not wearing masks was most likely much higher than the roughly 30 percent formally opting out. But they maintained that more students were wearing them than before, and that coronavirus positivity rates and quarantine cases were dropping..css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-3btd0c{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-3btd0c{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-3btd0c strong{font-weight:600;}.css-3btd0c em{font-style:italic;}.css-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-family:nyt-cheltenham,georgia,’times new roman’,times,serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.625rem;}@media (min-width:740px){#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-9s9ecg{margin-bottom:15px;}.css-16ed7iq{width:100%;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-box-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;justify-content:center;padding:10px 0;background-color:white;}.css-pmm6ed{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}.css-pmm6ed > :not(:first-child){margin-left:5px;}.css-5gimkt{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.8125rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.03em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.03em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.03em;letter-spacing:0.03em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#333;}.css-5gimkt:after{content:’Collapse’;}.css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;-webkit-transform:rotate(180deg);-ms-transform:rotate(180deg);transform:rotate(180deg);}.css-eb027h{max-height:5000px;-webkit-transition:max-height 0.5s ease;transition:max-height 0.5s ease;}.css-6mllg9{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;position:relative;opacity:0;}.css-6mllg9:before{content:”;background-image:linear-gradient(180deg,transparent,#ffffff);background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(270deg,rgba(255,255,255,0),#ffffff);height:80px;width:100%;position:absolute;bottom:0px;pointer-events:none;}.css-uf1ume{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}.css-wxi1cx{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-self:flex-end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:flex-end;}.css-12vbvwq{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-12vbvwq{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-12vbvwq:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-12vbvwq{border:none;padding:10px 0 0;border-top:2px solid #121212;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-qjk116{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-qjk116 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-qjk116 em{font-style:italic;}.css-qjk116 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:visited{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}“For the purpose of our mission of serving students, it strikes me as wise to leave it in place,” Jason Golden, Williamson County’s superintendent, said of the mandate. “And I think with the balance of the opt-out, we’ve got a structure that’s stable.”The extensions brought parents some relief. But even without the added challenge of disabilities, some families with children who are too young to be vaccinated have concerns about the safety of attending schools in the county.Laura Coons does not plan to send her youngest child, a fourth grader, back to in-person classes at his Williamson County school until he is vaccinated. She quit her job with the school system last year because she did not feel safe. She had helped recruit one of the speakers at the August board meeting who was harassed. She knows of local pastors who have preached “faith over fear” from the pulpit. Recently, a man in a Kroger grocery store yelled at her, “The mask don’t work, ma’am.”“People here are done with the pandemic, but the pandemic is not done with us,” she said. “I couldn’t send him in there knowing there are a fair number of people in this district, in this area, who weren’t taking precautions in life and weren’t going to do so when they send their kid to school.”Clifton and Shanika Robinson having dinner with their three children at their home in Franklin last week.Sarahbeth Maney/The New York TimesClifton and Shanika Robinson’s three children were excited to head back to school on Aug. 6, having not attended in-person classes since the spring of 2020. Their two sons started school in the Franklin Special School District, which did not impose a mask mandate until Aug. 20. Their daughter attended high school in Williamson County, which voted to establish the mask mandate in high schools on Aug. 26. On Aug. 28, their youngest son — the only unvaccinated person in the house — tested positive for the virus. Ms. Robinson, a registered nurse, felt defeated: “It was in our house, down a couple doors from our bedroom, in my baby.”The Robinsons wonder if it was a child who was allowed to go to school without a mask who sent the virus into their home. They worry that their son might have passed it to someone else. They fear it is inevitable that it will happen again.In August, the Robinsons’ youngest son — the only unvaccinated person in the house — tested positive for the virus. Sarahbeth Maney/The New York TimesHis sister, Amari Robinson, was terrified she had given it to him. Amari, a 16-year-old junior, attends a high school with a 19 percent opt-out rate, and prays every day that the percentage dwindles.“I just want us to do what we can to keep ourselves safe, and those around us safer,” she said. “It’s a group effort; everyone just hasn’t realized it yet.”

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration admonished the Republican governors of Texas and Florida on Friday for blocking local school districts from requiring masks or taking other measures to protect students from the coronavirus in the coming school year.The secretary of education, Miguel Cardona, sent a pair of letters to the governors and their education commissioners, writing that he was concerned about recent executive actions taken by both governors.Those orders, he wrote, prohibited districts from “voluntarily adopting science-based strategies for preventing the spread of Covid-19 that are aligned with the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” like universal masking. The letters were made public late Friday.The debate over whether local school districts should be able to require masks has become highly partisan. Republicans have cast mask rules as an infringement on parental rights, while Democrats have said they are a matter of public health.Last week President Biden also sharply criticized Republican governors like Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas who had banned mask mandates, saying they “are passing laws and signing orders that forbid people from doing the right thing.”“If you aren’t going to help, at least get out of the way,” Mr. Biden said.In one letter released Friday, Dr. Cardona criticized Governor DeSantis for threatening this week to withhold the salaries of district superintendents or school board members who defied his order.The education secretary noted that the American Rescue Plan Act passed by Congress allocated more than $7 billion to the state for safety measures. None of the money has been made available to local districts, Dr. Cardona wrote, and it could be used to pay the salaries of school officials.“In fact, it appears that Florida has prioritized threatening to withhold state funds from school districts that are working to reopen schools safely rather than protecting students and educators and getting school districts the federal pandemic recovery funds to which they are entitled,” Dr. Cardona wrote.In his letter to Texas officials, Dr. Cardona criticized Governor Abbott’s executive order blocking mask rules in schools as well as other state guidance that makes contract-tracing optional.Dr. Cardona said Governor Abbott’s order “may infringe upon a school district’s authority to adopt policies to protect students and educators as they develop their safe return to in-person instruction plans required by federal law.”The offices of Governor DeSantis and Governor Abbott did not immediately respond to a request for comment.He suggested that the state’s actions might imperil its federal relief funding. The policies, he wrote, appeared to “restrict the development of local health and safety policies and are at odds with the school district planning process,” which are required under the Education Department’s rules for receiving the relief funding.Dr. Cardona said his department’s rules emphasize that districts have discretion over how to use their funding, and that contact tracing, indoor masking policies, and other C.D.C recommendations are permitted and encouraged.Dr. Cardona added that the Biden administration would “continue to closely review and monitor” whether both states were meeting requirements under federal funding laws.Dr. Cardona also expressed support for districts in both states that have defied the governors’ orders.“The Department stands with these dedicated educators who are working to safely reopen schools and maintain safe in-person instruction,” he wrote.