Schools have long declared themselves to be gun-free zones. It’s time to make them cellphone-free zones as well.

In October, the National Bureau of Economic Research released a paper on Florida’s cellphone ban in schools, which began two years ago. That allowed David Figlio, a University of Rochester economics professor, and Umut Özek, a ...Read more

Senate Democrats — including Sen. Jacky Rosen — have shut down the government in an effort to force Republicans to extend expanded tax credits created to cushion the blow of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. Now that the COVID crisis has long passed, they insist that millions of Americans will face a “death spiral,” as NPR so delicately put...Read more

“Doomsday” was in the news last week. It’s an Old English word, dating to the 900s, at least. Doomsday originally denoted Judgment Day, the decisive event at the end of the world when the Almighty separates the sheep from the goats and commends them to their respective fates.

Modern usage expands the word’s scope; we use it to describe ...Read more

President Donald Trump’s months-long effort to find a primary challenger to Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, a fellow Republican and MAGA devotee, is the latest proof that Republicans in Washington were never truly intent on achieving the agenda they sold to voters last year.

If they were, they would be endorsing Massie as exactly the kind...Read more

Rarely, if ever, in American history has political party allegiance been so closely correlated with religious beliefs.

A white evangelical churchgoer in our country is now 82% likely to be a Trump supporter, according to the Pew Research Center, meaning that churches are also increasingly politically homogeneous. There may be understandable ...Read more

No question, antisemitism is real, resurgent and too often conflated with criticism of the Israeli government as it has destroyed Gaza to root out Hamas.

But it beggars belief that the Trump administration is sincere when it demands UCLA pay the government more than $1 billion because, as it alleges, the school failed to protect Jewish students...Read more

“My kid’s getting A’s at Harvard” isn’t much of a flex anymore, thanks to a report from the erstwhile Ivy League institution admitting that roughly 60% of grades given to undergraduates were A’s, up from 40% a decade ago and less than a quarter 20 years ago.

“Current practices are not only failing to perform the key functions of ...Read more

As the government shutdown drags into its fifth week, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, has become just another casualty of the Donald Trump administration’s cruelty. Without congressional action, millions of Americans may see their SNAP benefits vanish this month — including over 2 million people in Illinois and ...Read more

There’s a principle that keeps a free market free: You can’t take what isn’t yours and sell it as your own. Yet, that is precisely what some of the most prominent players in artificial intelligence are doing.

OpenAI’s new “Sora 2” can generate movie-quality video from a text prompt. It’s a remarkable technological leap and a ...Read more

When veterans and their families gather at commemorative events on Nov. 11, many who use the benefits and services of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will be wondering whether they can still rely on that federal agency.

Among those worried about the agency’s future — and their own — are the 100,000 former service members who ...Read more

I fell in love with dance as a child. For me, it was joy in motion — a healthy, creative expression where I found confidence, discipline and community. I started ballet lessons at age 11 and was transformed by the experience.

However, in recent decades, I’ve watched something precious slowly erode. The children’s dance world I knew ...Read more

Baseball has always been a great cauldron of American vernacular speech. One relatively new expression has caught my attention: “Wear it.” Like when a 99 mph fastball hits a batter’s shoulder or thigh or foot. “Yah, I’ll wear it.” As in, this is part of the game. Sure it hurts, but it is the price I pay for being here.

It is time ...Read more

When it comes to Proposition 50, Marcia Owens is a bit fuzzy on the details.

She knows, vaguely, it has something to do with how California draws the boundaries for its 52 congressional districts, a convoluted and arcane process that's not exactly top of the mind for your average person. But Owens is abundantly clear when it comes to her intent...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — While President Donald Trump was pushing National Guard troops from city to city like some little kid playing with his toy soldiers, California Gov. Gavin Newsom was coaxing voters into fighting the man’s election-rigging scheme.

It turned out to be an easy sell for the governor. By the end, Californians appeared ready...Read more

President Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress have a decision to make: They can step up to protect millions of people, providing the security and dignity that comes from being cared for when sick or injured, or they can keep holding our health care hostage and leave a body count.

How do I know? I’ve spent more than two decades in an ...Read more

Democrats have been outspoken in their concern that President Donald Trump might flout a court order. Yet they shrug when federal bureaucrats ignore Supreme Court precedent to exert their vast authority.

Trump should indeed respect judicial rulings. But as the courts whittle away at the power of government functionaries to interpret vague ...Read more

A glance at the George Santos case might suggest merely that the most flagrant liar in American politics simply couldn’t bear to see a fellow fabulist languish in prison.

But there’s a deeper, costlier moral rot in President Donald Trump’s decision to commute Santos’ sentence after less than three months of a seven-year term.

It’s of...Read more

My father had a simple ritual. At 6 a.m., he would read the New York Post and Daily News cover to cover. At 6 p.m., he tuned into the evening news — an hour of straightforward reporting, not commentary.

He formed his own opinions, and then he moved on. The news didn’t dominate company picnics or poker nights with the neighbors. A staunch ...Read more

I pick my daughter up from school every day and fight to keep my composure. The teachers are positioned on corners around the school, looking out for suspicious vehicles. Red whistles hang from their necks, walkie-talkies in hand, ready to signal danger. I can see both fear and calm in their faces — the quiet strength that I think drew them to...Read more

California, described by one observer in the late 19th century as “the Jews’ earthly paradise” for the economic and social promise it held, seems to have become newly hostile to Jewish people in recent years.

More than any other place on Earth, Jews have shaped much of California’s progress, from Levi Strauss and the founders of the ...Read more