At a morning press conference announcing new Hurricane Sandy initiatives, Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn’t just wade into the Israel-Palestine dispute, he also defended New York City’s cell phone ban in public schools.

“Kids should be in the classroom listening to the teacher,” he declared after a reporter asked him if Murry Bergtraum High School’s lack of regular phone service might prompt him to rethink the policy. “Not playing games, not Facebooking, Twittering, emailing, texting, or anything else. We’ve made that decision a long time ago. Cell phones are very destructive to the education process.”

Mr. Bloomberg then jokingly chastised a journalist in front of him to embellish his point. Read More