The Supreme Court has denied a challenge from New York City public school teachers to block Mayor Bill de Blasio's COVID-19 vaccine mandate from going into effect today.
US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor ruled in favor of the city Friday - allowing the mandate to go ahead and paving the way for up to 14,800 unvaccinated school employees to be out of work come Monday.
A group of four teachers has sent an emergency petition to Sotomayor Thursday asking her to halt the mandate.
They argued the mandate not only places an 'unconstitutional burden' on the city's 148,000 school workers, but also 'threatens the education of thousands of children.'
The petition claimed teachers' rights are being violated because they do not have the option to undergo regular COVID-19 testing instead of getting the shot.
Teachers across all public schools in the Big Apple were given up until 5pm Friday to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or risk losing their jobs.
Unlike most vaccine mandates put in place such as by the federal government and private businesses across the country, the rule does not allow unvaccinated employees to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing instead of getting the shot.
Yet, other New York municipal workers - including NYPD cops - have been given that testing option.
When the school day starts the following Monday - October 4 - all teachers and staff arriving for work across the city's public schools must have received at least their first dose of the vaccine.
Anyone still unvaccinated by the deadline, will be placed on unpaid leave until September 2022.
New York City public school teachers have asked the Supreme Court for an emergency order to block Mayor Bill de Blasio's (pictured) COVID-19 vaccine mandate from going into effect
Pre-K students and staff at Phyl's Academy in Brooklyn, New York City. Teachers across all public schools in the Big Apple have until 5pm Friday to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or risk losing their jobs
The New York Department of Education employs 148,000 school workers, including 75,000 teachers.
De Blasio said Friday that 90 percent of all Department of Education employees in the city were already at least partially vaccinated, including 93 percent of teachers and 98 percent of principals.
This shows a significant proportion of educators have rushed to get the shot this week ahead of the deadline, up from 87 percent of all employees Monday, including 90 percent of teachers and 97 percent of principals.
However, this means around 14,800 school employees including 5,250 teachers in the city's public schools could be out of work by Monday, plunging hundreds of schools into potential staffing crises.
Sotomayor, who is the justice for the second circuit including New York, Connecticut and Vermont and so rules on emergency matters in the Big Apple, rejected the teachers' last-ditch effort to block the mandate without giving any explanation.
She also did not refer the emergency request to the full Supreme Court to review.
The liberal justice's decision followed a similar ruling from conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett back in August.
Coney Barrett denied a bid from a group of students at Indiana University to block the school's vaccine mandate - also providing no comment
