As a nurse at two elementary schools, Michelle Lally of Rockford, Illinois, is used to looking after children's health. And she's not squeamish about being around sick students.

Chicago teachers piled into hundreds of cars on the first Monday of August and rolled their way to City Hall.

Chicago teachers piled into hundreds of cars on the first Monday of August and rolled their way to City Hall.

COVID-19 has created an unprecedented challenge for America’s K-12 schools. As policymakers and practitioners struggle to respond, they are weighing significant uncertainty and trade-offs that arise because of education, health, and budgetary concerns. The consensus is that students learned less during the spring’s school building closures, and the learning losses were especially great for students with less access to devices, internet, quiet study areas, home and community resources and those with learning challenges.

U.S. women’s soccer and basketball earned strong television ratings as they returned after being put on hold due to COVID-19, helping to quell concern that the pandemic would undo progress made in women’s sports over the last year.

Both the NWSL and the WNBA rode into 2020 with plenty of momentum.

U.S. women's soccer and basketball earned strong television ratings as they returned after being put on hold due to COVID-19, helping to quell concern that the pandemic would undo progress made in women's sports over the last year.

The Women's National Basketball Association's (WNBA) opening day attracted its most viewers in eight years as an average of 539,000 watched the Los Angeles Sparks and Phoenix Mercury.

U.S. women’s soccer and basketball earned strong television ratings as they returned after being put on hold due to COVID-19, helping to quell concern that the pandemic would undo progress made in women’s sports over the last year.

U.S. women's soccer and basketball earned strong television ratings as they returned after being put on hold due to COVID-19, helping to quell concern that the pandemic would undo progress made in women's sports over the last year.

As virus counts rise and teacher anxiety spikes, one big question is whether teachers unions will emerge as a powerful force in the school reopening debate — and whether a new wave of teacher activism could be on the horizon.

Amid the pandemic, unions and districts are renegotiating labor contracts to address long-term closures at an unprecedented rapid pace, but experts suggest collaboration may fizzle in the summer.