Author: sherlockj
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Have Virginia Republican Elected Officials Given Up on Charter Schools?
by James C. Sherlock Two things we know: There is absolutely no question that charter schools run by successful charter management organizations (CMOS) are proven to be the most efficient and effective American public schools in instructing poor urban kids. There is also no question that many Democratic politicians, having eliminated any doubt about their…
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General Assembly Democrat Bill Supports Gender Transition at 16 Without Parental Consent
by James C. Sherlock I note that House Bill No. 2091, with Patrons Munden-King, Clark, Hope, Maldonado, Rasoul and Simon does two things: It modifies Code of Virginia § 20-124.6. Access to minor’s records to permit health care providers to deny a minor patient’s records to parents if, in the provider’s judgment, providing those records would be “reasonably…
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Virginia’s Four Largest Not-for-Profit Health Systems and Medically Underserved Areas Next to their Headquarters
by James C. Sherlock A challenge to Virginia’s largest not-for-profit health systems: just do it. Take the lead. Note the medically underserved areas (MUAs) next to your headquarters and flagship hospitals and provide primary care in those locations. Virginia has federally-designated MUAs in Arlandria (INOVA), Norfolk (Sentara), Roanoke (Carilion) and Lynchburg (Centra). Those health systems…
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Virginia Medically Underserved Areas for General Assembly Consideration
by James C. Sherlock We have a new General Assembly session. With that comes lots of healthcare bills. I will not examine each one, but I have a suggestion for criteria to be applied by the Senate and House committees that do. Ask yourselves how, if at all, each bill helps the federally designated medically…
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Newport News Schools Making Changes After Shooting – But Not Enough Yet
by James C. Sherlock Better late than never. Truly. The Daily Press reported today that the Newport News school board has secured funding for state-of-the-art metal detectors. State-of-the-art means systems that can detect weapons without the long lines and delays we associate with such systems. As an example, a 125-year-old company, Kenton Brothers, offers Evolve…
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McKinsey & Company Has You Covered
by James C. Sherlock Ever feel not only disconnected from, but ignored by central planners? Do you run a shoe store in Sterling or work for a hospital in Richmond? Use natural gas in your home or work? Teach in a public school in Wise County? Drive a gas-or diesel-powered vehicle? In other words, do…
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Senator Boysko on Home Defense
by James C. Sherlock I have a loaded 9 mm semiautomatic handgun in my house for defense against home invasion. Never take it out of the house except to the range. It is locked up but readily accessible, even in the dark by a 77-year-old. If my kids were still at home I would still…
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Anti-Capitalism Packaged as Antiracism Teaches Failure in Virginia Schools
by James C. Sherlock I have spent the last 15 years or so studying and reporting on the decline of scholarship and the rise of censorship at the University of Virginia and other state institutions of “higher learning.” The enforced closing of minds has been targeted to resurrect an economic system that failed everywhere in…
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The Shooting at Richneck Elementary – Part 2 – the School
By James C. Sherlock The shooting at Richneck Elementary was a tragedy by every measure. I am not going to discuss the shooting itself here. I will instead offer a summary of the school’s state quality data so we can get a sense of the environment in that school. It is located across I-64 from…
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R.I.P. Virginia Public Schools
by James C. Sherlock I have crafted and will share what I believe to be an epitaph for public education in Virginia. All of the evidence we see is that Virginia’s public school system, counseled and cheered on by its disgraceful publicly funded schools of education, is crumbling at its foundations. We start children in…
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The Shooting at Richneck Elementary – Part One
by James C. Sherlock There is trauma everywhere you look. A six-year-old boy shoots his teacher in school and we first consider the trauma. Then we look for ways to minimize its effects. And we simultaneously ask questions about the event itself. What happened and why? Unless we are personally involved, and even if we…
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Bob Good’s Not-So-Excellent Adventure
by James C. Sherlock Republican Rep. Bob Good (R-Va), who represents Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District, got his five minutes of fame. Yesterday he was given a tree with which to hang himself on The New York Times editorial page. His op-ed contained statements that Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Tx) called “stupid platitudes that some consultant told…
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Why Law Enforcement Supports Gov. Youngkin’s Behavioral Health Transformation
by James C. Sherlock Updated Jan 6 at 13:10. Virginia’s sheriffs and police chiefs are reasonably hardened by what they see every day. They have very difficult jobs to do and are unlikely, either individually or in groups, to support nonsense. Governor Glenn Youngkin has accepted the challenge of finally fixing Virginia’s behavioral health system.…
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Democrats Want to Raise Youngkin-Proposed Mental Health Budget Increase
by James C. Sherlock There is fundamental agreement in Richmond over mental health services. From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Virginia’s forecasts of long-term budget surpluses mean this year’s General Assembly has a chance to catch up with years of under-funding Virginia schools and the state’s behavioral health system, General Assembly Democrats say. To govern is to…
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Preparing for the Costs to Government of Virginia’s Generation COVID
by James C. Sherlock To justify her insistence on keeping schools closed, Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, said in February of 2021, “kids are resilient and kids will recover.” She brought that same message to Virginia. In one of the strangest choices in Virginia political history, Terry McAuliffe brought Weingarten…