WA School Superintendent Admits Teacher Vaccine Mandate Has No Teeth Against Religious Exemptions

WA School Superintendent Refuses to Deny Teachers Should Lie for Covid Shot Exemption

The Superintendent of Public Instruction for Washington admitted that the new vaccine mandate for all teachers in the state will be arbitrarily applied. Teachers who file for religious exemptions will not be policed by the department.

“No, we’re not going to fire a bunch of teachers” in October, Superintendent Chris Reykdal told Q13 Fox host Brandi Kruse in an interview.

The rule indicates that all teachers and school staff must be show proof they have been injected with experimental Covid-19 shots in order to go to work. But the language of the rule allows for religious and deep-felt philosophical convictions to be grounds for exemption status. Staff simply needs to file for an exemption and they will apparently be allowed to go to work.

When asked repeatedly if he thought teachers should lie in order to keep from getting the jabs, Reykdal refused to deny it. Kruse pressed him, at which point Reykdal admitted that people without religious reasons could simply deny taking the shots based on their non-religious beliefs:

“No, listen to me. The language that is used by attorneys in this says ‘a deeply held religious conviction or practice.’ So it’s called a religious exemption but it has this ability for folks to sort of value this decision not necessarily based on a religious affiliation, not belonging to a particular church. That’s why we’re working the language out with the attorney general’s office. Some people say, ‘well that’s just a philosophical exemption,’ and I think in many ways that’s that fine line that exists. But it’s been described as a religious exemption under the Governor’s proclamation. It has the ability for people to say, “I just don’t do vaccines.'”

Washington is among a growing list of states that are requiring proof of vaccination for employees who work towards the public interest, including teachers, medical professionals, and law enforcement. But pushback has been swift and steady from those who either do not want to get vaccinated or who believe in privacy rights as well as medical choice rights.

As with many of these “mandates,” allowing exemptions and failing to check them thoroughly makes them essentially strongly worded recommendations. As Todd Myers, Environment Director for Washington Policy Center, noted on Twitter, “Create a rule and then announce it will be arbitrarily applied. In Washington state we now make rules without legislative oversight, and then apply them based on political expediency. There are terms for that system. ‘American’ isn’t it.”

While it’s good that many of these “mandates” are allowing for easy exemptions, Reykdal notes that tens of thousands may get the jab anyway out of ignorance of their rights or based on pressure applied by peers. That, folks, is the goal: Gaslighting people into submission.