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Most front-line educators are already vaccinated against COVID-19, but toothless mandates and murky data have stalled school districts’ progress toward a fully vaccinated staff.

As districts work to keep schools open for in-person learning and stem the spread of COVID-19, vaccination requirements for teachers and school staff are gaining traction.

Nevada schools saw sharp declines in proficiency rates in English and math last year during distance learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to state data released Thursday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for those 16 and older, announced Monday, is expected to pave the way for more vaccine mandates, including for teachers. But there are still many logistics to work out, including what happens to the teachers who refuse to get a shot.

This fall, as many schools across the country are planning to reopen for full in-person learning, parents and educators are bracing for the third straight school year to be disrupted by COVID-19.

Some unions have walked a fine line, stressing the need for any mandates to be negotiated with bargaining units before implementation. Others — most notably the nation’s largest teachers union — have shown increasing openness to mandates after initially expressing skepticism.

Despite arguing in the spring that teachers should be prioritized for the COVID-19 vaccine, state and national teachers’ unions have so far been reluctant to support a mandate.

As the debate over critical race theory and schools reaches a fever pitch, the two national teachers' unions are entering the fray, vowing to defend their members against any backlash over how they teach about the nation's complicated history with race and racism.