Author: Bob Rayner
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Fairfax SAT Scores Fall 27 Points Since 2018
by Arthur Purves When my wife and I were looking for a home in Fairfax County 50 years ago, we asked the real estate agent how the schools were. “Excellent!” she replied. But today? The Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Oct. 5, 2022, press release on 2022 SAT scores shows that between 2018 and 2022…
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Joe Morrissey Banned from Henrico Jails
by Jeanine Martin Last weekend Senator Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond) was banned from two Henrico County jails when he brought his three young children to Regional Jail West and refused to supervise them. His ban lasts for 90 days. Morrissey came to the jail to introduce one of his incarcerated constituents to an attorney who would…
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Roller Coaster Casino Ride
by Jon Baliles The road to a casino in the General Assembly is on a roller coaster ride that is careening down the hill and likely to jump the tracks at any minute. Last week alone, the bill that would allow a casino referendum in Petersburg and block a second one in Richmond until Petersburg…
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Educational Expectations
by Matt Hurt Since the Region VII superintendents initiated the Comprehensive Instructional Program in 2014, we have annually identified our top five most successful teachers of our most at-risk students in each SOL-tested course. In their classes, at least 50 percent of students were economically disadvantaged, and they also had a significant number of students…
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Respect Art, Heal Divisions
by Donald Smith “Our institution takes very seriously the responsibility to manage these objects in ways that ensure their origins and purpose are never forgotten: that is the glorification of those who led the fight to enslave African Americans and destroy the Union.” Those are the words of Marland Buckner, interim director of the city…
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AG Miyares Takes Aim At Lawless Parole Board
by Kerry Dougherty Never was the left’s affection for criminals more apparent than in the spring of 2020 when Virginia’s Parole Board, under the leadership of self-confessed “bleeding heart” Adrianne Bennett went on a madcap freeing spree. According to an exhaustive 66-page report released this week by Attorney General Jason Miyares, Bennett’s actions during just…
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Three Warnings? You’re Out of a Job.
by Kerry Dougherty Unbelievable. If what Abby Zwerner’s lawyer said yesterday in her press conference is true, it wasn’t enough to sack only the superintendent of Newport News Public Schools over the near-fatal shooting of a first-grade teacher by an armed 6-year-old. A host of other indifferent school administrators need to join him in the…
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On the Unlawful Nature of ‘Equity’ in Virginia
by David Gordon The Democrats wanted a fight over Critical Race Theory (CRT). The Virginia Project and our friends gave them the fight they were begging for — and spanked them so hard they’ll never forget it. When the facts were made known, the public was overwhelmingly against it, across every demographic. Fighting CRT was…
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Support Governor Youngkin’s RGGI Repeal
by Colin M. Kelly I can only laugh at the headlines and statements being made by the media and climate alarmists about Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to pull Virginia out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The headline “Returning Millions to Virginia” really grates: The state takes money out of the consumer’s pocket with…
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Newport News School Chief About To Be Sacked
by Kerry Dougherty As I wrote this I debated whether or not to put a question mark at the end of my headline. Newport News School Chief About To Be Sacked? I decided against it. News reports seem certain that the Newport News School Board will vote tonight to fire School Superintendent George Parker for…
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Democrats at a Town Hall: Earning a Merit Award ‘Doesn’t Matter That Much’
by Steve Spiker The investigation into Northern Virginia schools withholding notification that some students earned Merit Recognition, based on scoring in the top 3% of the country, started with just one school, the prestigious Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Technology. Since this issue was first uncovered a few weeks ago, there has been a…
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Symphonic Tribute
by Jon Baliles The Richmond Symphony has a long and great history of collaboration and performances that you would not normally think of when you think of Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach. But next weekend, get ready to experience two performances that will continue that tradition of unusual marriages of sound that produce magic. The Richmond…
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Virginia Dems Loathe No-Parole Laws
by Kerry Dougherty What do you do if you’re a soft-on-crime Democrat legislator in a no-parole commonwealth? You get creative. You find ways around the no-parole law that took effect back in the mid-1990s when Virginia was experiencing a crime wave similar to the one sweeping parts of the commonwealth now. Democrats in the State Senate…
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6-Year-Old Shooter
by Kerry Dougherty We’re not in the business of making predictions in this space. But with the police releasing precious few details about the near-fatal shooting of a Newport News first-grade school teacher on Friday, BY A SIX-YEAR-OLD BOY, we have a few guesses about what we will learn eventually: This is complete speculation, but…