There are a lot of people in the Bluegrass State who claim that it was only them unedumacated rednecks who are opposed to mask mandates in the public schools. Governor Andy Beshear (D-KY) first recommended that local school boards impose masking requirements, but after they declined, with two-thirds voting against them, the Governor decided to make it an order, an order subsequently rescinded when the state Supreme Court sided against him.

But then I saw this in The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Central Bucks School Board votes down mask requirement

Parents opposed to masking called it child abuse and said the virus posed low risk to children, while those in favor called it a necessary safety measure while the virus continues to spread.

by Maddie Hanna | August 25, 2021

The Central Bucks School Board on Wednesday voted down, on a 5-4 vote, a mask requirement and tighter COVID-19 mitigation measures.

Debate on the issue came two days after the county gave new guidance in response to a rebuke by state health officials, prompting the district to quickly reshape its plan. Some board members deemed the new plan too restrictive, or objected that masking wasn’t tied to prevalence of the virus in the community and other metrics.

The board said it would revisit the issue next Tuesday, the second day of school.

The district — the third-largest in Pennsylvania — had revised its plan to align with the county’s new recommendations, including a requirement that students who test positive for COVID-19 isolate for 10 days. It specifies that the district will notify parents and the Health Department of close contacts, and that rapid testing will be available in school for students whose parents have given permission.

Before the vote, board members debated whether to approve the plan Wednesday night after hearing comment from deeply divided community members, some of whom described masking as “child abuse,” or noted the low risks of COVID-19 to children.

Parents in favor of a masking requirement cited risks to children with health conditions and immunocompromised community members, and urged the board to follow the CDC, state, and now county health officials — who before the state’s intervention had already revised their mask-optional guidance to recommend universal masking at the urging of local hospitals.

There’s more at the original, but Bucks County isn’t exactly rural Kentucky: in the 2020 election, voters in Bucks gave 204,712 votes (51.66%) to Joe Biden, and only 187,367 (47.29%) to President Trump. In 2016, Bucks’ voters opted 167,060 (48.52%) to 164,361 (47.74%) for Hillary Clinton over Mr Trump.

The state legislature passed, and sent to the voters who approved, constitutional amendments to limit the Governor’s ’emergency’ powers after Pennsylvanians found them so odious, or Governor Tom Wolf (D-PA) would have imposed mask mandates himself:

HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf is calling on the Republican-led legislature to return to the Capitol immediately to pass legislation mandating the use of masks in K-12 classrooms and child-care centers throughout Pennsylvania.

In a letter to legislative leaders in both chambers, the Democratic governor struck a note of urgency, noting that many public schools have already returned to the classroom — most without mask requirements — and that parents, teachers, pediatricians, and others who have contacted his administration overwhelmingly support a statewide mandate.

Just 59 school districts out of the 474 that submitted health and safety plans to the Department of Education had implemented mandatory masking policies as of the end of July, Wolf said in the letter to Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R., Centre) and House Speaker Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster).

And here’s the kicker:

“For most of the past 18 months, the legislature has asked for my administration to defer to local governments and local organizations when making mitigation decisions,” Wolf wrote. “It is clear that action is needed to ensure children are safe as they return to the classroom.”

So, like Governor Beshear in Kentucky, Governor Wolf asked local school boards to issue mask mandates, but 415 out of 474 school districts declined, Mr Wolf did not want to “defer to local governments and local governments,” and wanted to make it an order . . . but the amendments to the Commonwealth’s constitution deprives him of that authority. The voters of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania decided this.

The left are apoplectic over this, but, the same left which yelled about “Democracy!” when Donald Trump was President are now very, very unhappy about the democratic choices the voters have taken.