By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are drifting on Wednesday as Wall Street takes a pause from what seemed like a relentless rally.

The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in morning trading, coming off its first loss in four days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 45 points, or 0.1%, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was basically flat. All three are near their all-time highs, which were set on Monday.

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It’s a slowdown following the blistering run for the U.S. stock market since it hit a low in April, fueled by hopes that President Donald Trump’s tariffs won’t derail global trade and that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates several times to boost the U.S. economy. The big rally, though, has raised concerns that stock prices have shot too high and become too expensive, particularly if the Fed does not deliver as many cuts to rates as traders expect.

Demonstrating the weight of high expectations, Micron Technology’s stock fell 1.8% even though it reported a better profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The maker of computer memory also gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that blew past analysts’ expectations.

Typically, such a performance would send a stock higher. But Micron’s stock came into the day with an atypical, stunning gain of 97.7% for the year so far.

Freeport-McMoRan sank 10.6% for one of the market’s larger losses after the miner said it expects sales of copper to be 4% lower in the third quarter than it had earlier forecast. It also said sales of gold will likely be roughly 6% lower than earlier expected.

On the winning side of Wall Street was Lithium Americas. It soared 91.5% following reports that the U.S. government is considering taking an ownership stake in the Canadian company, which is developing a lithium project in Nevada with General Motors.

Lithium Americas, based in Vancouver, said it’s in talks with the U.S. Department of Energy and GM about drawing on a previously announced $2.26 billion loan from the government. The Energy Department is making “incremental requests” to add more conditions before Lithium Americas can make its first draw, among other things, the company said.

Under Trump, the U.S. government has already taken a 10% ownership stake in Intel, the struggling computer chip company.

Homebuilders also rose after a report said U.S. sales of new homes were stronger in August than economists had forecast and unexpectedly accelerated.

Lennar climbed 2%, PulteGroup rose 1.5% and D.R. Horton added 0.7%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe and Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.4%, and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.5% for two of the bigger moves.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.13% from 4.12% late Tuesday.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Yuri Kageyama contributed.

My mother thought that breakfast should be loaded with protein, and pancakes were no exception. Not only do these flapjacks have protein-rich cottage cheese, but they also contain 6 eggs in the batter.

Initially, Mom tried to sneak in a little brewer’s yeast (a rich source of B vitamins) into the batter, an ingredient that made the mixture smell like sour socks. But my brothers and I complained so much that she eventually scrubbed the smelly stuff.

Mom’s Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Yield: About 30 (3 1/2-inch) pancakes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup cottage cheese

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 eggs

1/4 cup reduced-fat milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

For greasing pan: nonstick spray or vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Place all the ingredients in blender (except nonstick spray or oil for greasing pan). Cover blender and whirl until well combined and smooth, for about 1 to 2 minutes.

2. Heat large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Spray with nonstick spray or heat about 2 teaspoons vegetable oil (tilting skillet to cover with oil). Using a 1/4-cup measure, add batter to hot skillet. Cook for about 2 minutes or until dry around the edges, bubbles start to break and golden brown on bottom. Turn and cook until bottom is golden brown.

Award-winning food writer Cathy Thomas has written three cookbooks, including “50 Best Plants on the Planet.” Follow her at CathyThomasCooks.com.

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By FARNOUSH AMIRI, Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian took the stage at the U.N. on Wednesday to blast Israeli and U.S. attacks in June as inflicting “a grievous blow upon international trust and the very prospect of peace in the region.”

His comments at the General Assembly are the first time he has spoken in a global forum since the 12-day Israel-Iran war over the summer that saw the assassination of many of the Islamic Republic’s highest military and political leaders.

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Pezeshkian is in New York as a series of crippling U.N. sanctions loom over Tehran if it does not make a deal with European leaders by Saturday. But before even landing in New York, any diplomatic efforts by Pezeshkian and Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi were overshadowed when the country’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei rejected any direct nuclear talks with the United States.

Pezeshkian also repeated Tehran’s claims that it odes not seek a nuclear weapon through its domestic nuclear activities.

“I hereby declare once before this assembly that Iran has never and will never seek to build a nuclear bomb,” he said.

The president also criticized the Britain, German and France’s efforts to trigger the so-called “snapback” mechanism to reinstate sanctions — barring a last-minute accord — over Iran’s failure to comply with conditions of a 2015 nuclear deal aimed at preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

He said that the countries — known as the E3 — have operated in “bad faith” for years to dictate Iranian compliance with a deal that the U.S. abandoned in 2018. “They falsely presented themselves as parties of good standing to the agreement and they disparaged Iran’s sincere efforts as insufficient.

Earlier this month, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) announced that 12 Austin-area schools with an “F” rating could be closed. For many families, this isn’t just a policy decision—it’s a direct threat to thousands of children’s educational stability and their communities’ future. 

The affected schools, all part of Austin Independent School District (AISD) received three consecutive failing grades under the state’s accountability system tied to the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exam. TEA ordered the campuses to submit improvement plans by mid-November, which could involve major staffing changes or closures. The schools include Winn Montessori, Barrington, Dawson, Linder, Oak Springs, Pecan Springs, Sanchez, Widen, Wooldridge, Bedichek, Martin, and Paredes. As education researchers and community advocates, we know that school ratings often reveal more about poverty than about student learning. Decades of research show that standardized tests don’t measure intellect, creativity, or resilience. They measure zip codes. Numerous studies also highlight the direct ties between the testing industry and the prison industrial complex.

The problem is clear: Austin’s “F” schools overwhelmingly serve mostly low-income African-American and Hispanic children. Closing them on the basis of a flawed metric sends one message: Your community does not matter. 

School buses in Austin (Shutterstock)

More specifically, data from the Texas Academic Performance Report outlines that the twelve Austin ISD campuses at risk of closure or major intervention serve predominantly low-income African-American and Hispanic student populations (see a full chart here): At these campuses, between 78 percent and 97 percent of students are classified as economically disadvantaged, with most schools exceeding 90 percent. This strongly suggests that socioeconomic status, not instructional quality, is the most consistent predictor of school ratings. Research has long demonstrated that poverty shapes educational outcomes through limited access to resources, higher mobility rates, and increased exposure to stressors outside of school. The racial and ethnic composition of these same schools is between 57 percent and 91 percent Hispanic, while African-American enrollment ranges from 1.9 percent to nearly 39 percent. The clustering of F-rated schools in predominantly Black and brown neighborhoods highlights the racialized nature of standardized testing outcomes, aligning with scholarship that critiques accountability systems as mechanisms that reproduce racial and class stratification. 

TEA’s accountability system disproportionately penalizes schools that serve economically disadvantaged students of color. All twelve schools identified for improvement or closure received failing (“F”) ratings, yet their student demographics highlight structural inequities rather than deficiencies in teaching or learning. 

Parents and teachers have long known what research confirms: Standardized testing is a poor predictor of success. It rewards test-taking strategies, not curiosity. It privileges students with resources, tutors, and stability at home, while penalizing those navigating poverty, language barriers, or trauma. 

Standardized testing has become a billion-dollar business. In 2013, TEA awarded Pearson a $462 million contract, followed by a $280 million contract with Education Testing Services. Nationally, 45 states spend a combined $669 million annually on testing contracts. These corporations reap massive profits, yet there is no evidence that more standardized testing improves student learning or narrows achievement gaps. What these tests do measure—reliably—is the ability of corporations to siphon resources away from Texas students, teachers, and communities.

Instead of doubling down on testing, TEA should reduce the number of exams and provide real support. Before closing schools, the agency must engage communities in honest conversations about what children need to thrive—whether it’s more bilingual staff, smaller classes, or after-school programs. 

Austin’s children deserve more than a test score. Closing schools will not build stronger communities. Listening to them will. TEA must choose partnership over punishment. 

A growing body of scholarship urges states to move beyond single test scores and adopt multiple measures of accountability. Such systems better capture the breadth of student learning by incorporating graduation rates, college and career readiness, access to qualified teachers, and school climate. Authentic assessments—such as project- and portfolio-based evaluations—offer viable alternatives that measure higher-order thinking and student creativity while remaining compliant with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, which explicitly authorizes states to integrate portfolios, extended performance tasks, and adaptive assessments into their accountability systems. Despite this flexibility, Texas continues to rely almost exclusively on high-stakes standardized tests, ignoring well-established recommendations for more equitable, comprehensive approaches to evaluating student learning and school quality. 

At the state policy level, Texas must fundamentally rethink accountability. Policymakers, TEA, and school leaders should establish school-based teams to collect and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data, ensuring that decisions are grounded in the realities of students, families, and educators. 

These efforts must prioritize schools with the greatest needs and the fewest resources, offering sustained support rather than punitive closures. Specifically, TEA should end costly assessment contracts with for-profit corporations and redirect those funds into classrooms, counseling services, culturally relevant curricula, and community engagement initiatives that actually strengthen schools. 

The post Austin’s Children Deserve More than a Test Score appeared first on The Texas Observer.