Category: Demographics
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Has the Rural Brain Drain Ended?
by James A. Bacon Remote work isn’t the only trend encouraging Americans to relocate from major metropolitan areas to small towns and rural communities, suggests Hamilton Lombard in a new StatChat post. The rise of social media has allowed smaller communities to emulate the entertainment and culinary offerings of big cities, while the rise of…
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Looking More Like New Jersey Every Day
by James A. Bacon I’ve frequently made the observation that Virginia has been leaking population through domestic migration. However, as recent data published by Old Dominion University’s Strome College of Business make clear, the loss of population through domestic migration is more than offset by net international migration. Between April 1, 2020, and June 30,…
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Virginia’s New, Post-Covid Population Growth Reality
by James A. Bacon Population growth patterns are shifting within Virginia. So far during the current decade, Virginia’s two largest metropolitan areas — Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads — have been losing population due to net migration (more people moving out than moving in). The trend, evident before the Covid epidemic, became more pronounced during…
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Birth Dearth Portends Continued Public School Enrollment Losses
The Demographics Research Group at the University of Virginia Projects significant erosion in public school enrollment in Virginia through 2030 — the effect of a seemingly permanent Covid-prompted loss of some 40,000 students to private schools and home schooling, combined with a shrinking birthrate that was evident before the Covid epidemic. Hamilton Lombard has the…
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Governor’s Chronic Absenteeism Task Force – Part Three – Vital New State Roles
By James C. Sherlock I have found in 18 years of reporting on education in the Commonwealth that each school, each school division and each region is to some degree its own ecosystem. Taking the example of chronic absenteeism, an individualized assessment of causes could be attempted: if a single school‘s chronic absenteeism can be…
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Charlottesville, Its Public Schools and UVa – Part Two – Black Students
by James C. Sherlock What drew me to this story is the fact that Black students in Charlottesville City Schools (CCS) have suffered to a degree unequaled elsewhere in the Commonwealth. Keeping in mind the domination of Charlottesville and its schools by the University of Virginia and its School of Education and Human Development discussed…
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Charlottesville, Its Public Schools and UVa – Part One – Bad things Happen
by James C. Sherlock In the relationship between Charlottesville and the University of Virginia, very bad things have happened to Charlottesville and continue to do so. I have developed a working thesis on that relationship. The city is at the mercy of the University by virtue of the latter’s wealth, influence, and power in Charlottesville…
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Virginia Has Lost Its Mojo — Appalachia Edition
A new report, “The Future of Appalachia,” outlines economic development strategies for one of the most intractably poor regions in the country. Drawing a distinction between “southern” and “northern” Appalachia, the study observes that southern Appalachia has achieved far more economic success than its northern counterpart. Unfortunately, for purposes of this analysis, Virginia is deemed…
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Can Virginia Republicans Find 500,000 Votes?
by Shaun Kenney Back in November 2019, the Commonwealth of Kentucky was well on its way to being a blue state. That is, until the state’s Republican leadership saw the trend and decided to do something about it. Aided by terrible Biden numbers, Kentucky’s GOP reversed the decline in short order: If you’re like myself,…
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Loudoun County Public Schools – Part 1 – Chantilly
by James C. Sherlock Part 1 of a series. Sometimes, even at my age and experience, I am legitimately surprised. After writing about the growth of leadership, support and administrative staffs in both institutions of higher learning and the public schools, I thought I had the picture. I did not. Then I looked at Freedom…
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Population Changes in the Commonwealth Since the 2020 Census
by James C. Sherlock The Bureau of the Census has issued its estimates of the population changes in Virginia and its 133 jurisdictions since the 2020 census. They are always of interest, but perhaps more so since 2020-2022 spanned the COVID years. The categories of change calculated by the Census Bureau are total change, natural…
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NAEP Before and After COVID
by John Butcher We’ve been hearing about the post-COVID declines in scores on the National Assessment of Educational Process (NAEP) tests. The NAEP database offers some (in fact, an abundance of) details. Here, as a small sample, are the 4th and 8th grade reading and mathematics data for the nation and Virginia. First, reading:
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UVa’s Undergraduate Female/Male Demographics vs. Diversity, Equity and Federal Law
by James C. Sherlock The University of Virginia measures its diversity efforts by statistics. We’ll hold them to their own standards. That seems only equitable. President Ryan has said that the demographic composition of students is easy to measure. The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion office, proving him right, proudly displays a Diversity Dashboard. All eyes,…
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Glen Allen Va’s “Do No Harm” Doing a Great Deal of Good
by James C. Sherlock Do you assume that Virginia’s medical schools are strict meritocracies, taking only the most well prepared and accomplished applicants? And that their efforts are then focused entirely on creating the most skilled physicians possible? If so, you are mistaken. The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), written by the American Medical Association…
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Five Questions: An Interview with Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears
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by Shaun Kenney Last week, The Republican Standard had the opportunity to follow Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears as she toured the Richmond Slave Trail — which included not only the site of the notorious Lumpkins Slave Jail but also the site where Gabriel Prosser was executed and presumably buried in 1800. Winsome Earle-Sears brought a…