This is the Coronavirus Schools Briefing, a guide to the seismic changes in U.S. education that are taking place during the pandemic. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent a striking message on Tuesday: Children should return to classrooms because it’s safe for them to do so.

The agency said the “preponderance of available evidence” indicated that in-person instruction could be carried out safely as long as mask-wearing and social distancing were maintained. Its researchers found “little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission” when proper safety precautions were followed.

One important caveat: Local officials also must be willing to impose limits on other settings — like indoor dining, bars or poorly ventilated gyms — in order to keep infection rates low in the community at large.

In one example, researchers looked at 17 elementary and secondary schools in rural Wisconsin where mask-wearing was routine, and the incidence of infection was lower in schools than in the community at large. During 13 weeks in the fall of 2020, there were 191 infections among staff and students — and only seven came from in-school transmission.

The report, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, adds weight to the consensus among public health experts: With testing and other safety protocols, schools should be the last institutions to close and the first to open. It also jibes with President Biden’s push to reopen most schools within 100 days.

Ron Klain, the White House chief of staff, told Erin Burnett of CNN on Tuesday that there was one missing ingredient that explains why so many public schools are closed in places where private schools are open.

“I’ll give you a word: money,” Klain said. He pointed out that the Wisconsin schools in the C.D.C. study got “a sizable grant from a private foundation to put in the kinds of safety measures they needed.”

Asked about unions that have opposed some reopening plans, he again cited the need for financial resources.

“I don’t think the unions are overruling the studies,” Klain said. “I think what you’re seeing is schools that haven’t made the investments to keep the students safe.”

Teaching the insurrection

Just three weeks ago, supporters of former President Donald Trump breached the Capitol. Since then, educators across the country have tried to help their students parse the tumultuous events.

Some opened the floor for reflections and discussion. Others rerouted their syllabuses toward the news, turning to science fiction, Shakespearean tragedy and the fall of Rome in search of parallels. One second-grade teacher used an analogy her class would understand.

Capitol Riot Fallout

From Riot to Impeachment

The riot inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, followed a rally at which President Trump made an inflammatory speech to his supporters, questioning the results of the election. Here’s a look at what happened and the ongoing fallout:

• • As this video shows, poor planning and a restive crowd encouraged by President Trump set the stage for the riot.
  • A two hour period was crucial to turning the rally into the riot.
  • Several Trump administration officials, including cabinet members Betsy DeVos and Elaine Chao, announced that they were stepping down as a result of the riot.
  • Federal prosecutors have charged more than 70 people, including some who appeared in viral photos and videos of the riot. Officials expect to eventually charge hundreds of others.
  • The House voted to impeach the president on charges of “inciting an insurrection” that led to the rampage by his supporters.

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