Iran war has cost $25B, Pentagon says. And, SCOTUS strikes blow to Voting Rights Act

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Louisiana's 2024 election map was an "unconstitutional racial gerrymander." The map established a second majority-Black congressional district. The justices' 6-3 decision fell along partisan lines. While the court technically kept Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act intact, the ruling contributes to a series of decisions undermining the landmark 1965 law that protected racial minorities' collective voting power. Experts expect the ruling to reduce minority representation across all levels of government.

• 🎧 The court's ruling reinterprets the longstanding protections against racial discrimination in Section 2, NPR's Hansi Lo Wang says. Decades ago, Congress amended the Voting Rights Act to say that Section 2 should focus on any discriminatory effects of a redistricting plan. Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the court's majority opinion that the focus of Section 2 should be intentional racial discrimination. Legal expert Atiba Ellis tells Lo Wang that proving racist intent is notoriously difficult, and the ruling essentially asks plaintiffs to "now find a smoking gun." Lo Wang adds that with a further weakened Voting Rights Act, the U.S. could see the largest-ever decline in representation by Black members of Congress.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell plans to remain on the central bank's governing board for a period of time after his term as chairman ends next month. Powell's announcement highlights the economic and political pressure the Fed has faced in recent years.

• 🎧 Fed chairs typically step aside after their terms end, NPR's Scott Horsley says. Powell is exercising his right to remain on the governing board through early 2028, at least for a while. He said he's doing this to help safeguard the Fed's ability to operate without political pressure. President Trump has threatened to fire Powell and another Fed governor, Horsley says. The Department of Justice also launched a criminal investigation into the Fed. Powell and his colleagues have so far resisted the Trump administration's efforts. But Powell says the battle is not over yet. He says he plans to keep a low profile after he is no longer chairman and won't compete with Kevin Warsh, Trump's nominee to be the next leader of the central bank.

The war in Iran has nearly doubled jet fuel prices in the U.S., driving up the cost for wildfire-fighting aircraft operations this summer. Taxpayers will be the ones to fork over tens of millions of dollars this year to cover the cost of fighting those fires. Last year, the nearly 500 or so aircraft the U.S. government used to fight most large wildfires burned through about $50 million worth of jet fuel. If this year is similar to last season, the fuel bill could double to nearly $100 million.

Deep dive

Federal survey data suggests that the amount of math homework assigned to fourth and eighth grade students, in particular, has been declining. Stanislaw Pytel/Getty Images

Stanislaw Pytel/Getty Images

Educators and researchers have noticed a trend for years now: More teachers are moving away from homework. Some educators and parents say this is a good thing, and students shouldn't spend six or more hours a day at school and have more schoolwork to complete at home. But the research on homework is complex. Some studies show that students who spend more time on homework perform better than their peers. A 2021 longitudinal study of more than 6,000 students in Germany, Uruguay and the Netherlands found that lower-performing students who increased their time on math homework improved in the subject, even one year later. But other studies also show minimal effects of homework on academic performance. A 1998 study of more than 700 U.S. students found that assigning more homework in the elementary grades had no significant effect on standardized test scores. Here's what else we know about the debate over homework:

• ✏️ Just like other skills that require training, mastering academic subjects, particularly math, requires practice. Some experts worry that decreasing homework could threaten math achievement at a time when math scores across the U.S. are already low.
• ✏️ Artificial intelligence has complicated the homework debate. An EdWeek Research Center survey found that 40% of teachers had decreased homework assignments over the past two years. Of those, 29% said that students' AI use had lessened the value of the task.
• ✏️ Education groups and researchers generally recommend 10 minutes of homework each night per grade level. But it is almost impossible to assign work that will take every student the same amount of time to complete.

Picture show

Courtesy of Chronicle Books

When author Bruce Handy's son Isaac was young, he loved — and lost — an orange balloon. Isaac was upset by what happened and promised that one day, if he ever got a pet, he would name it Balloon in honor of the one he lost. He kept his promise when he and his sister received kittens six months later. Handy was so moved by his son's loyalty to the balloon that he decided to write a children's book about it. Losing a balloon as a child is one of the most universal experiences, which is why it is easy to relate to the little boy's story in the book, Handy says. Illustrator Julie Kwon used pen and ink to tell the story and carefully uses the right shade of orange to show how the young boy sees the world after losing his prized possession. Check out some of her illustrations and read more about a child's singular devotion here.

3 things to know before you go

kuppa_rock/Getty Images

1. Scientists have discovered a critical window when baby brains are most vulnerable to toxic metals by analyzing layers in their teeth, according to a new study in the journal Science Advances. Those toxic metals have been linked to behavior problems later in life.
2. Millions of people are hooked on the more than 50 bald eagle nest cameras across the U.S.
3. In this week's edition of NPR's Far-Flung Postcards, Emily Feng takes readers to Homs, Syria, where olive trees promise a taste of home that residents had been missing for nearly 14 years due to civil war.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.