As COVID-19 cases surge around the country, a majority of Americans say they support mask mandates for students and teachers in K-12 schools, according to a new poll, but their views are sharply divided along political lines.

What You Need To Know

  • About 6 in 10 Americans say students and teachers should be required to wear face masks while in school, according to a new AP-NORC poll; A majority of Americans also say teachers and eligible students should also be required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine

  • The responses were split along partisan divides: About 3 in 10 Republicans said they favor mask requirements for students and teachers, compared with about 8 in 10 Democrats

  • Fifty-two percent of parents with school-age children said they supported a mandate for kids, while 28% opposed it, with a similar split over mandates for teachers

  • About two-thirds of Black parents said they back mask mandates for teachers and students, compared with about half of white and Hispanic parents

About 6 in 10 Americans say students and teachers should be required to wear face masks while in school, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Similar shares say teachers and eligible students should also be required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

Masks have been a point of contention as U.S. schools reopen amid rising numbers of coronavirus cases. Questions about whether to require them have caused turmoil among parents and politicians, with some Republican governors banning mask mandates even as President Joe Biden threatens legal action against them.

In a reflection of that polarizing debate, the poll finds a wide partisan divide. About 3 in 10 Republicans said they favor mask requirements for students and teachers, compared with about 8 in 10 Democrats. There was a similar split over vaccine mandates in schools.

Some of the nation’s largest school districts will require masks for all students and staff this fall, including in New York City. That’s fine with Budhiono Riyanto, 37, of Queens, who will be sending his 7-year-old son, Gabriel, back to school next month.

“I understand personal choice, I understand personal freedom. But when it comes to public health, we should all be looking out for each other,” Riyanto said. “The best protection so far is to mask up and vaccinate.”

Others say masks shouldn’t be forced upon children.

Kim Oldfield, who lives in rural Jessieville, Arkansas, said masks are unpopular in her area. She opposes the idea of a mandate and says it should be up to families to decide. In her local school district, masks are optional this fall.

“America is supposed to be the land of the free,” said Oldfield, 70. “And when the government starts getting into your personal life and making you do things that you don’t want to do, people don’t like that.”

Parents are slightly less likely to support mask requirements than the broader population, the poll shows. Fifty-two percent of parents with school-age children said they supported a mandate for kids, while 28% opposed it, with a similar split over mandates for teachers.

There were also differences by race: About two-thirds of Black parents said they back mask mandates for teachers and students, compared with about half of white and Hispanic parents.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.