Young Chicago students begin return to classroom learning

Chicago Public Schools students began their return to the classroom Monday as school doors opened to thousands of pre-kindergarten and some special education students.

The nation’s third-largest district, with about 355,000 students, plans a gradual return to in-person instruction after going remote last March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pre-kindergarten and some special education students can return this week or continue online learning. Students in kindergarten through 8th grade have the option Feb. 1. No date has been set for high school students' return.

“It is our city’s first day of embarking on our path to returning to in-person learning,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a Southwest Side elementary school where students wore face coverings and desks had sneeze guard barriers.

A preschool student gets his temperature checked as he walks into Dawes Elementary School in Chicago, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. Monday was the first day of optional in-person learning for preschoolers and some special education students in Chicago Public Schools after going remote last March due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Ashlee Rezin GarciaChicago Sun-Times via AP, Pool)

Nearly 40% of eligible students, about 77,000, expressed interest in returning, with about 6,000 students in pre-kindergarten and special education expected Monday. District officials didn't immediately release data on how many students returned or how many teachers reported to work.

The Chicago Teachers Union has opposed reopening over safety concerns. CPS officials say teachers who don't show up without prior approval will be punished. About 4,300 teachers and staff were expected Monday.

Union officials claim the district hasn’t done enough to protect teachers from COVID-19, proposing to continue distance learning until teachers are vaccinated.

Elementary 1 and 2 teachers sit outside of Suder Montessori Magnet Elementary School in solidarity with pre-K educators forced back into the building in Chicago, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. (Anthony VazquezChicago Sun-Times via AP)

District officials argue distance learning doesn’t work well for all, particularly many Black and Latino students who make up the majority of the district. The district’s safety plan includes purchasing classroom air purifiers and a testing program.

Some union leaders have mulled the possibility of a strike; CTU's last walkout was in 2019. A plan approved Monday by state legislators could give the union more power in fighting reopening and future contract negotiations.

The legislation repeals part of an educational labor law that has limited collective bargaining rights for the Chicago union since 1995. If Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs it, the union can negotiate with the city over more issues, including class size. Pritzker, a Democrat, said Monday that he would review the measure. He has previously favored the idea.

Pre-kindergarten teacher Angela Panush reads a story to her students at Dawes Elementary in Chicago, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. Chicago Public Schools students began their return to the classroom Monday as school doors opened to thousands of pre-kindergarten and some special education students after going remote last March due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Ashlee Rezin GarciaChicago Sun-Times via AP, Pool)

Lightfoot has said repealing the law now could “impair” reopening efforts. Last month, a state labor court rejected CTU's injunction to halt reopening and cited the 1995 provision as a reason.

Illinois logged 4,776 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 infections on Monday, along with 53 related deaths. Overall, the state has reported more than 1 million cases and 17,627 deaths.

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A pre-kindergarten student washes his hands at Dawes Elementary in Chicago, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. Chicago Public Schools students began their return to the classroom Monday as school doors opened to thousands of pre-kindergarten and some special education students after going remote last March due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Ashlee Rezin GarciaChicago Sun-Times via AP, Pool)

This story has been corrected to show the return date for K-8 students is Feb. 1, not next week.

Pre-kindergarten students listen as their teacher reads a story at Dawes Elementary in Chicago, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. Chicago Public Schools students began their return to the classroom Monday as school doors opened to thousands of pre-kindergarten and some special education students after going remote last March due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Ashlee Rezin GarciaChicago Sun-Times via AP, Pool)

Signs are taped to the fencing outside of Suder Montessori Magnet Elementary School as teachers start their virtual classes outside of the school in solidarity with pre-K educators forced back into the building in Chicago, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. (Anthony VazquezChicago Sun-Times via AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations in multiple states after at least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard around 2 a.m. local time Saturday in the capital, Caracas.

The Pentagon and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas. Another military installation in the capital was without power.

People in various neighborhoods rushed to the streets. Some could be seen in the distance from various areas of Caracas.

“The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the air was hitting us.”

Venezuela’s government, in the statement, called on its supporters to take to the streets.

“People to the streets!” the statement said. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”

The statement added that President Nicolás Maduro had “ordered all national defense plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.”

This comes as the U.S. military has been targeting, in recent days, alleged drug-smuggling boats. On Friday, Venezuela said it was open to negotiating an agreement with the U.S. to combat drug trafficking.

Maduro also said in a pretaped interview aired Thursday that the U.S. wants to force a government change in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves through the monthslong pressure campaign that began with a massive military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August.

Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism in the U.S. The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels in what was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes on boats in September.

U.S. President Donald Trump for months had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan land. The U.S. has also seized sanctioned oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, and Trump ordered a blockade of others in a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on the South American country’s economy.

The U.S. military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes is 35 and the number of people killed is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.

They followed a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America, including the arrival in November of the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which added thousands more troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in generations.

Trump has justified the boat strikes as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S. and asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

Meanwhile, Iranian state television reported on the explosions in Caracas on Saturday, showing images of the Venezuelan capital. Iran has been close to Venezuela for years, in part due to their shared enmity of the U.S.

Pedestrians walk past the Miraflores presidential palace after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Residents evacuate a building near the Miraflores presidential palace after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Pedestrians run after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Pedestrians run after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)