In towns nationwide, well-connected conservative activists, and Fox News, have ramped up the tension in fights over race and equity in schools.

"I will not affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa because it's against my religion," Loudoun County, Virginia, teacher Byron "Tanner" Cross said.

“This has made people afraid to speak up,” one mother said. “They’re afraid that what happens to us is going to happen to them."

Volunteers across the country are responding to people's fears, coaxing the hesitant and removing obstacles for those who want to get vaccinated.

If confirmed, Lhamon will be in charge of issues including how schools address LGBTQ rights, sexual misconduct and racial harassment.

Activists described unexpectedly finding a calling. People who had never attended a City Council meeting are now running for a seat. But they’ve also faced consequences.

"We need to open our eyes to the fact that this is going on," said one psychiatry professor, who found many parents do not know when their children are in crisis.

The government is planning multiple opportunities for the public to weigh in on how schools should respond when a student reports sexual misconduct.

A new report lays out the hardships students say they faced after reporting sexual assaults to their schools.

The Missouri AG said this was “one of the most widespread cases of sexual, physical and mental abuse patterns against young girls and women in Missouri history.”

Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri stands accused of two misdemeanors in a case widely criticized by advocates for press freedom.