Two New York City educators fired last year for refusing the COVID-19 shot called out the "unethical" double standard as migrants attend city schools without proof of required vaccinations.
Cassey McFadden, who served as a math teacher in Brooklyn for 25 years, came out of retirement during the pandemic to help the city's teacher shortage but was fired for her vaccine stance. She told "Fox & Friends First" Monday that the entire city should be in "uproar" over the double standard.
"It's illegal, it's unethical and it's insane," McFadden said. "They're actually risking the safety of all New Yorkers. You can't have one policy for one group and another policy for another group."
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The recent flood of migrant families into New York City is forcing schools to accept unvaccinated children and has possibly led to an outbreak of chickenpox, the New York Post reported.
Joy Newball, another teacher fired for refusing to take the COVID vaccine, said she had to decide between her experience and her beliefs.
"I had to think about what would be the best choice that supported my beliefs, that supported my convictions, and it was to allow the state Department of Education to terminate me," she said
"It was a choice between keeping my qualifications… or being pushed to choose that they were going to terminate me because I was not going to comply. I was never going to comply, so I had to choose to lose my career," she added.
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Newball, who taught for eight years, said the difficult decision meant sacrificing the experience and trainings she had amassed during her tenure.
"I had to let it all go," she said.
As of September 2022, the New York City Department of Education's firings totaled around 2,000 for failure to comply with the mandate initially imposed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
McFadden said the population needs to "come together," but she and Newball both called out Mayor Eric Adams and other area officials.
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"I blame those who think they have the authority to do this, and, if we look at what this country is founded on, there is no authority for any public servant who tries to force anything on anyone," Newball said.
"What they are doing is completely dividing the people," she said, pointing to the 26,000 schoolchildren who were not allowed in the schools because they were unvaccinated while migrants can attend without.
She added that the decision is being "rubbed in the face" of taxpayers.
