“The Michigan Democratic Party has deleted a weekend Facebook post that questioned the role parents have in deciding what is taught in public schools and drew criticism from conservative and school choice groups,” the Detroit News reports.

The post suggested that parents who want more input on what their kids are learning “have the option to choose to send their kids to a hand-selected private school at their own expense.”

“School districts from Pennsylvania to Wyoming are bowing to pressure from some conservative groups to review — then purge from public school libraries — books about LGBTQ issues and people of color,” Axios reports.

“As Omicron continues to spread, schools across the U.S. are struggling with teacher shortages that have forced them to consolidate classes and lean on administrative staff to fill in as substitutes,” Axios reports.

“School closures and virtual classes can do lasting damage to kids’ academic achievement — but so can some of the accommodations schools have had to make in order to stay open.”

A cyberattack against Albuquerque Public Schools prompted the city to cancel all classes districtwide on Thursday and possibly Friday, the Albuquerque Journal reports.

The attack was discovered Wednesday morning “when teachers tried to log onto our student information system and were unable to gain access to the site.”

“Public-school attendance across the U.S. has dropped to unusually low levels, complicating efforts to keep schools open, as districts also contend with major staff shortages,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Many students in kindergarten through 12th grade are out sick because of Covid-19 or are being kept home by anxious parents, as the Omicron variant surges, officials say. Remote learning often isn’t being offered anymore for students who are home. Empty desks create a quandary for teachers, who must decide whether to push ahead with lesson plans knowing a large number of their students will need to catch up.”

“A proposal for Chicago Public Schools to resume in-person classes Wednesday has been approved by the Chicago Teachers Union’s House of Delegates following a contentious weeklong standoff,” the Chicago Tribune reports.

New York Times: “The deal, which city officials said included provisions for additional testing and metrics that would close schools with major virus outbreaks, was approved by the union’s House of Delegates on Monday night and was expected to be voted on later in the week by rank-and-file teachers.”

“Sixteen major U.S. universities, including Yale University, Georgetown University and Northwestern University, are being sued for alleged antitrust violations because of the way they work together to determine financial-aid awards for students,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Chicago Public Schools canceled classes for the fourth school day in a row as Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Teachers Union continued negotiating on a potential reopening of city schools,” the Chicago Tribune reports.

Washington Post. “The establishment candidate thought she was a shoo-in, but she hadn’t contended with the home-schooling, anti-masking member of the far-right Three Percent movement.”

Washington Post: “The latest surge in coronavirus cases prompting school and day-care closures has thrust parents back into familiar terrain, trying to navigate work obligations with a changing patchwork of testing protocols, quarantines and a possible return to virtual schooling.”

“At least 5,225 schools were disrupted for at least part of this past week because of the pandemic, easily a record for the current school year.”

New York Times: “For Democrats, who promised to keep schools open, the tensions are a distinctly unwelcome development.”

Wall Street Journal: “The Covid surge hitting just as kids are expected back in classrooms is making life unpredictable for parents yet again. Parents find themselves abruptly thrown back into a pandemic stage they thought they’d escaped: worrying about school cancellations, managing remote learning and calculating quarantine periods. Especially in places where case levels are acute, parents wonder how they will provide care and instruction for their children if they are sent home; some express uncertainty about the safety of going to school.”

“The fresh anxiety is straining already burned-out parents.”

Vox: America doesn’t have enough teachers to keep school’s open.

Chicago Teachers Union members are refusing to work in person, Crain’s Chicago Business reports.

“K-12 schools around the country are pressing forward with tentative plans to reopen after the holiday break in the midst of a surge in Covid-19 cases,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Their biggest challenge: getting enough rapid tests to be able to step up or launch ‘test-to-stay’ strategies.”

However, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports Atlanta Public Schools “announced Saturday that it will conduct classes remotely next week due the surge of coronavirus cases in the metro area.”

“Republicans across America are pressing local jurisdictions and state lawmakers to make typically sleepy school board races into politicized, partisan elections in an attempt to gain more statewide control and swing them to victory in the 2022 midterms,” Politico reports.

“Tennessee lawmakers in October approved a measure that allows school board candidates to list their party affiliation on the ballot. Arizona and Missouri legislators are weighing similar proposals. And GOP lawmakers in Florida will push a measure in an upcoming legislative session that would pave the way for partisan school board races statewide, potentially creating new primary elections that could further inflame the debate about how to teach kids.”

Oklahoma state Sen. Rob Standridge (R) has introduced a bill that would give any parent the power to ban books in school districts, the McAlester News-Capital reports.

Under the bill, if just one parent objects to a book it must be removed within 30 days. Parents can also collect at least $10,000 per day if the book is not removed as requested.