A solar eclipse is a little more than a week away and even if your school isn't in the so-called "path of totality," you and your teachers should seize the opportunity to connect the celestial spectacle to what kids are learning in class.

Local districts say the denials will force them to take undesirable steps to balance their budgets, such as increasing class sizes.

As of March 21, Pinellas County public schools had 32 of 123 positions open. Hoping to stem the tide, some of the nurses who remain have launched a campaign to pressure the district to boost their salaries in the next round of contract negotiations.

They formed Voices for a Safer Tennessee and in days had begun planning a 3-mile (4.83-kilometer) human chain from the children's hospital at Vanderbilt University, where shooting victims were taken after last year's violence, to the state Capitol.