While this may be a good time to take advantage of the public’s attention, it’s also a time when teachers increasingly fear repercussions for offending students.

Eight days into the government shutdown and politicians appear to be no closer to reaching a deal. USA TODAY White House Reporter Bart Jansen unpacks the issues.

The U.S. is on track to borrow nearly $2 trillion per year for the next decade, the CRBF notes. "How can anyone think this is sustainable?"

As Republicans try to pin blame for shutdown damage on Democrats, they are hailing a federal bureaucracy they normally bash as wasteful and overreaching.

It added that voters are siding with Democrats’ health care funding demands, that “Republicans are starting to feel the heat” on the issue and that the GOP’s political pain will worsen “the longer and more aggressively” Democrats litigate it.

Fewer say they frequently get news about science and technology (32%), business and finance (32%), sports (27%) and entertainment (19%).

A common thread running through the controversies of the new fall season of America’s bitter politics is Donald Trump’s attempt to impose unfettered, often unprecedented presidential power on multiple fronts.

W ASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has seized on the government shutdown as an opportunity to reshape the federal workforce and punish detractors, meeting with budget director Russ Vought on Thursday to talk through “temporary or permanent” spending cuts that could set up a lose-lose dynamic for Democratic lawmakers.

France's new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his government resigned on Monday, hours after Lecornu announced his cabinet line-up, making it the shortest-lived administration in modern French history and deepening the country's political crisis.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned after less than a month in office on Monday and less than 24 hours after naming a new government that prompted a key coalition ally to withdraw support.

TBILISI, Georgia -- TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Sunday accused the opposition of trying to topple his government and vowed a further crackdown on dissent, hours after the ruling party claimed a landslide win in local elections snubbed by its main rivals.