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Chicago school leaders canceled classes for a second straight day after failing to reach an agreement Wednesday with the teachers union over remote learning and other COVID-19 safety protocols in the nation’s third-largest school district. The Chicago Teachers Union, which voted to revert to online instruction, told teachers to stay home Wednesday during the latest COVID-19 surge while both sides negotiate, prompting district officials to cancel classes two days after students returned from winter break. (Tareen, 1/6)

The escalating teachers union dispute in the nation’s third-largest school district has put the Biden administration at odds with a key labor constituency over the safety of in-person learning amid a holiday-inflected Covid spike. “Long story short we want schools to be open, the president wants them to be open, and we’re going to continue to use every resource and work to ensure that’s the case,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday. (Niedzwiadek, 1/5)

To understand the crisis that shuttered Chicago public schools this week, it helps to know the key ingredient: A Democratic mayor and one of the city’s most powerful labor groups can’t stand each other. An increasingly toxic relationship between the Chicago Teachers Union and Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been waiting to explode for months — if not years. The Omicron variant turned out to be the spark. (Kapos and Niedzwiadek, 1/5)

Frustrated city parents want to lower the quarantine time for COVID-19 infected students from 10 to five days in light of evolving guidance from the Centers for Disease and Prevention. The CDC shortened its recommended isolation period for those with resolving or asymptomatic COVID-19 infections to five days just after Christmas.Gov. Kathy Hochul applied that change, but only to essential workers across the state. (Algar, 1/5)

The students learning from home — or not at all — this week in major Michigan school districts are more likely to be Black. The major Michigan school districts that decided to shut down in-person classes in the new year serve higher populations of students of color, particularly Black students, according to a Detroit Free Press analysis. The big districts that have closed or switched to virtual: Detroit Public Schools Community District, Pontiac School District, Oak Park Schools, Southfield Public Schools, Flint Community Schools, Ann Arbor Public Schools and the Lansing School District. (Altavena, 1/5)

New evidence suggests transitioning in and out of Covid-19 lockdowns is having a negative impact on the emotional well-being of children and adolescents. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reports. (1/6)

Over the course of Monday afternoon, the school superintendent in Norristown, Pa., outside Philadelphia, moved from believing schools would stay open to closing them and upending the community’s routines for at least a week. “When we started seeing the numbers climb really across the board—when nurses started dropping out, when we started hearing reports that bus driver absences might become problematic—the sum total of it said: You know what? We need to take a collective pause,” said Superintendent Christopher Dormer of the Norristown Area School District. (Calvert and Belkin, 1/5)

When Huntah and Duke aren't busy playing catch, the two dogs are usually detecting the presence of COVID-19 in their community. In the past year, the 14-month-old Labrador retrievers have worked at 15 different schools in Massachusetts. ... The dogs are trained to sit down in front of an area where a COVID-19 odor is detected. The dog will then alert their handler so that they can mark the area as one to focus on for cleaning. Darling said the dogs are not used in place of COVID-19 testing. (Powell, 1/5)

Many Georgia professors are calling for stricter COVID-19 protocols ahead of Monday’s return to classrooms — a day when University of Georgia students are expected to gather in large numbers to watch the college football national championship. The United Campus Workers of Georgia Local 3265, which represents employees and faculty at the University System of Georgia’s 26 schools, said in a letter to members and supporters that in-person classes should begin only after employees and students have shown proof of vaccination. (Stirgus, 1/5)