Author: sherlockj
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Virginia Pre-Trial Release: the True Risks of Recidivism and Failure to Appear for Trial
by James C. Sherlock The goals, good ones, of Virginia’s Pre-trial Services Agencies (PSA) is to advise courts on pre-trial release risks; to supervise the population on pre-trial release to reduce recidivist crime and failures to appear (FTAs) and through both efforts to help assure public safety. By the government’s own evidence, those goals have…
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A Teacher Safety Perspective on Teacher Shortages
by James C. Sherlock We have discussed here teachers shortages in Richmond and some of the other larger school divisions in Virginia. When the issues of teachers being physically afraid to continue teaching because of behavioral chaos in the schools is brought up, it is ignored or dismissed by the left in favor of its…
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Triumphs in Criminal Bail Reform and Restorative Justice
by James C. Sherlock George Soros wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Sunday July 31. Title: “Why I Support Reform Prosecutors.” Subtitle: “Justice or safety? It’s a false choice. They reinforce each other.” Mr. Soros proudly proclaims he has supported the election (and more recently the re-election) of prosecutors who support reform.…
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Virginia Needs Better Information Sharing to Provide Mandated Public Services to Illegals Efficiently and Effectively
by James C. Sherlock I am on record as a persistent advocate of improving the quality of both schools and medical services for poor and minority citizens. It has been the main focus of my work for years. In a directly related matter, we read, with different reactions depending upon our politics, of the struggles…
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Social Theory vs. Science in K-12 Discipline in Virginia – Fraud or Just Wrong?
by James C. Sherlock American school children have in my lifetime been the subject of widespread experiments in theory disguised as breakthroughs in education. Consider the “new math” and the “reading wars” as prominent examples. Now we have social theory on school discipline created by federal civil rights lawyers piggybacking on what may or may…
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Bad News for Governor Youngkin
by James C. Sherlock The New York Post has a story by Dana Kennedy that has put Governor Youngkin in a tough spot. It recounts nasty business transactions by Carlyle Group Co-Founder and Co-Executive Chairman David Rubenstein. The story links Mr. Rubenstein to the trashing of two founding fathers by tour guides at Monticello and Montpelier,…
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The Public Housing and Education Debate – Who, Exactly, are the Racists?
by James C. Sherlock There is agreement on both sides of the political divide in Virginia and the rest of the country that public housing projects were and are hellholes. I have written that the bipartisan response, vouchers, run into lack of supply virtually everywhere. Cue the debate about causes and solutions. Let’s take a…
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Portsmouth, Norfolk and Newport News – New Applications for Section 8 Vouchers, Public Housing Mostly Closed
by James C. Sherlock I authored a piece here recently about the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority (NRHA) and the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. I made the point that it is very difficult to find housing that can profitably be rehabbed to Section 8 standards. I note that the only open waiting list…
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The July Surprise from Congress – a Completely Revised Energy Economy by 2030
by James C. Sherlock Here at Bacon’s Rebellion we spend a lot of ink talking about Virginia energy demand and supply. We debate the ideas of both sides of the discussion. Turns out that we made the mistake of thinking these were state issues. Democrats in Congress are about to intervene in every part of…
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Mitigating Nurse, Teacher and Police Officer Shortages in Virginia – An Illustrative Example
by James C. Sherlock Virginia is currently dealing with big shortages of nurses, teachers and police officers. If any one doubts that, please consult other conversations that have already been presented on this blog. We have also written here about working conditions for all three professions. Those need to be addressed and, again, have been…
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Capitalism is the Solution To, Not the Cause Of, the Affordable Housing Crisis
by James C. Sherlock My colleague Dick Hall-Sizemore posted a column here on housing for the poor. He titled it “Little Guys Lose Again.” His opening: A recent article on this blog about the high cost of housing generated a considerable amount of discussion. Much of the discussion centered around the role of government in…
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K-3 Reading Instruction – Federal Recommendations vs. Virginia SOLs
by James C. Sherlock This column has been withdrawn while under revision based upon updated 2017 reading SOLs. Those SOL are published on the same web page as the 2010 SOLS which are still available for download. I will remap the revised reading SOLs with the Federal model depicted and report.
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Fairfax County NAACP Gets to the Point on Literacy Instruction
by James C. Sherlock I spend a lot of ink here writing about improving the education of poor kids. I am not alone. In April of 2021, the Fairfax County NAACP wrote a letter to the Superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools asking that FCPS switch from Balanced Literacy to Structured Literacy in reading instruction…
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VEA Wants Better Student Discipline – Dismisses Progressive “Reforms” as Unhelpful
by James C. Sherlock Sometimes unions work for members. They always back higher pay and benefits. I back that position of the Virginia Education Association (VEA). On the other hand, I have opposed some things the VEA has backed in Virginia public schools — the list starts with excessively long denial of in-school education during…
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Where Does Virginia Most Need Charter Schools?
by James C. Sherlock Discussing failing schools in Virginia, people tend to speak in generalities. When an example is needed, the City of Richmond Public Schools is chosen — an uncontested layup. But failed schools are not a problem just in Richmond. And bad public schools in Richmond are not limited to RPS. They are…