Metro East Sun

GOP Candidate for the 112th House District Jennifer Korte is slamming schools that still engage in masking.

"Keeping kids in masks is just inexcusable at this point. We have plenty of evidence to show the harm masking has done to kids and kids are the least at risk to adverse effects of the virus. There is no reason to mask kids. It is just cruelty at this point," Korte told the Metro East Sun.  

"It really comes down to control. These school districts want to show parents who is in charge of their kids’ education. They have no respect for parental authority and have no interest in conceding that they have been on the wrong side of this debate from Day One."

"I would like to see school districts act in the best interests of parents and students for a change. It is time to put woke ideology aside and focus on kids. I also would like to see these school districts with the strictest masking policies to admit the harm these policies have done to kids and apologize to parents for what they have done. Instead of the usual arrogance we see from these individuals – it is time for some real humility."

Korte’s comments come as the last public school district in Oak Park 97 went “mask recommended” on March 17, West Cook News reported. It was the last school district in the state to requires masks following a series of court rulings noting the unconstitutionality of the state mandate, which Stuart supported.

While masking is no longer allowed in public schools The School for Little Children, an Evanston pre-school, noted it was continuing the mask mandate through the remainder of the school year, despite infections in children not posing a significant Covid threat, North Cook News reported

Korte is a lifelong resident of Madison County and earned a bachelor’s degree in social work from SIUE. She earned a master’s degree in social work from St. Louis University and worked as a social worker at Barnes-Jewish Hospital before becoming a stay-at-home mom in 2005. 

The 112th district is currently represented by State Rep. Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville). It includes parts of Madison and St. Clair counties and the communities of Edwardsville and Collinsville.

"Full-time legislator; B.A. in Mathematics, Rutgers University; former public elementary and high school math teacher in Edwardsville and Highland; former college math instructor at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville; lives in Edwardsville with her husband and two children," Stuart’s bio reads on the Illinois House Dems website.