Author: sherlockj
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A Positive View of the Performance of Two Key General Assembly Members
by James C. Sherlock Virginia has some dreadful members of its General Assembly. We spend more time writing about them than we do on those who are exemplary. I am going to focus on two that I truly admire, Senator Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, and Delegate Jason Miyares, R-Virginia Beach. It is hard to relate in…
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Hospitals 1, Patients 0
by James C. Sherlock Since January 1 of this year, after a court battle won in late December 2020 by the Trump Justice Department, the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS) has required hospitals to post median payer-specific negotiated rates. I figured the fix was in when most hospitals in Virginia still haven’t complied. The Virginia…
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Analysis Needed to Back Up VDOE Policy Changes
by James C. Sherlock Many dramatic changes in school policy are being made and contemplated by the Virginia Department of Education. The references justifying the changes are inevitably academic “studies.” I’m sorry, but academics can and do design studies to provide whatever results they are looking for. That is why so many are not replicable…
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Virginia School Superintendent Supports Accelerated Math Pathway
Dr. James F. Lane, Supervisor of Public Instruction, has been gracious enough to address with me his thoughts on the the Virginia Department of Education Virginia Mathematics Pathways Initiative (VMPI). The headline for readers of this column is that he will not support any program that eliminates acceleration in mathematics. I sent him my column…
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Research the Huge Differences in SOL Math Scores Among Black Children
by James C. Sherlock The problem Virginia Department of Education Virginia Mathematics Pathways Initiative (VMPI) and associated equity changes are designed to solve is low math proficiency among black students. That math performance issue must be addressed beginning in kindergarten and before. At the end of the 3rd grade, even under Virginia’s new standards,…
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VDOE and the New “Math Path” — Healthy Skepticism and Professionalism Would Be Appreciated
by James C. Sherlock The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) describes the proposed Virginia Mathematics Pathways Initiative (VMPI) as follows: “The Virginia Mathematics Pathways Initiative (VMPI) is a joint initiative among the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) and the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). The Initiative…
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Virginia Board of Education Marches Virginia’s Children into the Abyss
by James C. Sherlock The Governor, limited to a single term, appoints the Virginia Board of Education. It recently has demonstrated that it is the most powerful of state boards by crafting the most extreme progressive overhaul of a state education system, ever, anywhere. Change the entire concept of the missions and functions of the…
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Coming: Public Schools as Family Services Agencies
by James C. Sherlock I have just reviewed the Return to School Planning Equity Audit published by the VDOE – Office of Equity & Community Engagement #EdEquityVA . I confess amazement. I simply had no idea how far the missions and functions of Virginia public schools have been stretched. The Equity Audit shows that…
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Norfolk Police Officer Fired for Helping Citizen Accused of a Crime
by James C. Sherlock I watched closely the Derrick Chauvin trial. It appeared that the judge conducted a fair trial, both the state and the defense were properly represented. Mr. Chauvin was found guilty by a jury of his peers. As far as I personally and, more importantly, the legal system of the United States…
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Biggest U.S. Orthopedic Facility Projects Exclude Virginia
by James C. Sherlock Beckers just published a list of the 14 largest orthopedic projects in America in 2021. None of them are located in Virginia. Virginia’s COPN law and its administration make such projects highly unlikely here. Every Virginia hospital that did not propose such a project would oppose it. And in the monopolized metro…
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Culture Wars and the Law
by James C. Sherlock We have reported here significant evidence of the criminal harassment of two conservative students, one a student council member at the University of Virginia and the other a soccer player at Virginia Tech, for their political views. Both have been treated as administrative matters at the two universities. That is a…
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When Will Virginia Re-start Enforcement of Truancy Laws?
by James C. Sherlock COVID has interrupted the enforcement of Virginia’s truancy statute (Code of Virginia § 22.1-254. Compulsory attendance required). The purpose of that law is offered by Virginia Department of Education regulations. Students who attend school regularly beginning in kindergarten are more likely to succeed academically. Academic achievement, especially in math, is…
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Detached, Clueless, Pedantic and Non-Responsive
by James C. Sherlock A series of communications among Nickolaus Cabrera, a first year student at the University of Virginia, President James Ryan of the University and the University’s Rector, James Murray, has come into my possession. I have posted them here. I will offer here my assessment, but I urge each reader to access…
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Virginia Leaders Reject the Very Concept of America
by James C. Sherlock This blog is dedicated to tracking, reporting and assessing the political culture of Virginia. Our authors, right, center and left, report and assess individual events. But as we track the legislation, executive orders, regulations and rhetoric coming out of Richmond and the rogue actions of every state board the Governor appoints,…
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UVa Response to Medical Student First Amendment Lawsuit
by James C. Sherlock Jim Bacon reported April 8 on the claims of Kieran Ravi Bhattacharya, a former student at the University of Virginia Medical School, who alleges that he was retaliated against for exercising his First Amendment freedoms at a panel discussion by the University’s chapter of the American Medical Women’s Association (“AMWA”). Senior…