Author: James A. Bacon
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Map of the Day: Corporate Tax Rates
Why does Virginia have such an also-ran economy? Perhaps one reason, among many, is that its combined state and local corporate tax rate is higher than that of 24 other states. We’re not hostile to business like, say, Illinois or New Jersey, but we’re not welcoming either. — JAB
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Wokewashing Comes for the Executive Mansion
by Shaun Kenney Ned Oliver over at Axios Richmond takes two separate and distinct wires and touches them together for maximum dramatic effect, namely how the tour for the Virginia Executive Mansion — recently reopened after the COVID pandemic — whose narrative has satisfied historians for a good two decades or more, is today somehow…
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Last Passenger on the Titanic
by James A. Bacon The good news regarding the Silver Line extension of the Washington Metro rail system to Washington Dulles International Airport is that the service is fiiinnaally scheduled to commence in October after four years of construction delays. The bad news is that Metro might not have enough rail cars in service to…
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VEA’s Failing, Flailing Excuse for a Report
by James A. Bacon The Youngkin administration threw down the gauntlet last week when it issued the latest public school-accreditation data. Despite unprecedented learning losses during the COVID epidemic, the percentage of Virginia public schools meeting the accreditation standards fell from 92% pre-COVID to 89% post-COVID, a decline of only three percentage points. Commented Superintendent of…
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Why Local Leaders Won’t Say The G Word
by Kerry Dougherty If you want to understand what’s going on with the surge in violent crime in Tidewater, you really need to watch the movie “Jaws.” Remember how the mayor of Amity wanted to keep the beaches open even after he knew that a massive, man-eating Great White shark was feeding in local waters?…
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“Too Thin”
by Donald Smith The Virginia Military Institute’s hands were tied, it seems. It tried for months to justify leaving an inscription of Stonewall Jackson’s name on an arch at the Old Barracks on VMI’s Main Post. But the school’s leadership couldn’t find a way, so it chose… to take a sandblaster to the National Historic…
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Virginia’s Student “Growth” Model Stunts Achievement
by Matt Hurt Virginia’s system for accrediting public K-12 schools has engendered some concern since the release of school accreditation data on September 19. While students exhibited lower proficiency during the 2022 school year than in 2019, as measured by Standards of Learning test scores, the percentage of schools meeting the requirements for full accreditation…
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Addressing the Spiral Effect in Learning Loss
by Dr. Kathleen Smith During the COVID-19 pandemic educators did what they had to do in a short amount of time (five months in the case of Virginia) with little resources (extra funding came long after September of 2020) to keep kids learning through the 2020-2021 school year. A wholesale shift to remote and hybrid…
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Of Monocans and Manumissions
by James A. Bacon Virginia’s history is endlessly fascinating. A study of the state’s past illuminates many issues that still confound us today. Such is the case with a monograph that reader Kemp Dolliver has brought to my attention: “Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and the Natural Bridge of Virginia.” This article, written in 1997 by…
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Schrödinger’s Schools? Are Virginia’s Schools Good Or Not? Yes.
by Andrew Rotherham In the tiresome debate about our schools, here in Virginia and nationally, questions like “Are schools as good/bad as people say?” dominate. These are the wrong kind of questions. The big story of American education is variance — in everything from funding to outcomes. School performance is mixed overall and here in…
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Youngkin Admin Questions Value of School Accreditation Standards
by James A. Bacon A Virginia Department of Education press release issued yesterday contained a vitally important message: Virginia’s school accreditation standards are failing to do their job. Despite unprecedented learning losses during the COVID epidemic, the percentage of Virginia public schools meeting the standards fell from 92% pre-COVID to 89% post-COVID, a decline of…
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UVa Rules Out a “Pattern” of Hate Crimes
by James A. Bacon University of Virginia executive leadership has issued a remarkable statement that lends insight into the fraught state of race relations at Virginia’s flagship university. Three recent incidents have taken place on the Grounds since the new academic year began that have “caused some to speculate that they are linked or part…
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Please, Governor, Focus on Virginia First
by James A. Bacon Virginians are still trying to decipher the intentions of Glenn Youngkin in traveling to so many Republican campaign events around the country. The Governor been in office about eight months. He’s barely gotten started in undoing the damage of his predecessor’s four-year term. He couldn’t really be thinking about running for…