Category: Government workers and pensions
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The Destruction of STEM Teaching
by William C. Lyons It is a rare instance of bipartisan agreement that Virginia needs to graduate more students with STEM degrees to meet the burgeoning demand for employees with backgrounds in science, technology and engineering. At considerable expense, Virginia colleges and universities have been expanding their STEM programs. But will there be enough students…
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Rich Jurisdictions Vote with Their Feet on the Virginia Department of Health
by James C. Sherlock A couple of days ago Antonio Olivo broke a story in The Washington Post that told of a law permitting Loudoun and Prince William counties to form independent health departments. It awaits Governor Northam’s signature. Having seen the performance of the Department of Health during COVID, they have decided they cannot…
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Virginia Has a Talent Pipeline Problem, Not a Systemic Racism Problem
by James A. Bacon Among Virginia’s 57,000 classified state employees, black workers are under-represented in leadership positions, writes the Richmond Times-Dispatch today. “Inequity had a 401-year head start here. It’s easy to say we’re not moving quickly enough, and I agree,” said Chief Diversity Officer Janice Underwood in an interview with the RTD. “Racism has been…
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Fire State Officials Who Failed Us in COVID
by James C. Sherlock If senior members of the state bureaucracies escape accountability for their failures before and during COVID, the agency cultures won’t change and it will happen again. I am going to review below the extent of their written responsibilities for pandemic planning and the high quality planning support they were given…
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Union-Written Bill Fundamentally Redefines Public Schools
by James C. Sherlock Democrats are attempting to rush through a bill to provide political cover from a backlash by parents against the continuing closure of Virginia schools. Never ones to let a crisis go to waste, they have put union-written provisions in the bill that will permanently change the nature of the public schools…
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There Is a God and He Has a Sense of Humor
by James C. Sherlock The Left won control of government in the most recent elections nationally and in Virginia. Elections indeed have consequences. The focus on race instead of class by the newly victorious left will have major consequences here. A combination of (1) Biden policies requiring antiracism training for federal workers and contractors; and (2) state…
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Wow, Huge Majority of Virginians Supports Public-Sector Bargaining
by James A. Bacon The Wason Center at Christopher Newport University issued a new poll today which finds, among other things, that Virginians favor collective bargaining rights for public employees by a whopping 68% to 25% margin. If that’s not scary enough, the poll likely understates the support for public-sector collective bargaining. Thirty-six percent of…
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Teacher Suspended for George Floyd Reference in Chemistry Question
by Hans Bader A high-school teacher in Arlington is under investigation and has been “relieved of classroom duties” after posting a chemistry question that referred to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. “George Floyd couldn’t breathe because a police officer put his _____ George’s neck,” the question read. The answer is “neon,” an…
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Loudoun Board Embraces Public-Employee Unions
by James A. Bacon Virginia’s slow-but-steady metamorphosis into New Jersey continues apace. The Loudoun County board of Supervisors has voted to let unions into county buildings to recruit public employees. Reports Loudoun Now: Currently, under state law, state and local governments are not allowed to recognize any union or collective bargaining. … But with a new state…
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Structural Racism in VDOE Leadership?
by James A. Bacon Under the Northam administration, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has taken the lead in pushing for racial “equity” in public schools: hiring more minority teachers, funneling money to under-performing schools, and rewriting admissions policies for elite governor’s schools to admit more minorities. But it turns out that the senior ranks…
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Uh, Oh, Another Bad Year for VRS Investments
by James A. Bacon The Virginia Retirement System earned 1.4% on its $82 billion investment portfolio in fiscal year 2020, far below the long-term average of 6.75% the VRS Board of Trustees assumes that it will earn over the next 30 years, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch. VRS investments have returned 5.2% over the past three…
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The Democratic Party-Public Union Symbiosis
by James A. Bacon It’s Labor Day today, so I suppose it’s appropriate that Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney has disseminated a fund-raising email calling for recipients to join him in “fighting for working people.” By that, he means giving a “voice” and a “seat at the able” to Virginia teachers, firefighters, and other public-sector workers.…
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So It’s Not “About the Children” After All
by James C. Sherlock The Chesterfield Education Association (CEA), a local unit affiliated with the National Education Association, is pushing back hard against a plan to have school employees report to their schools in order to use school facilities and support systems to professionalize remote instruction to their students. (According to the CEA president, the…
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Welcome to Illinois
by James C. Sherlock The illegal but successful threats not to return to work by teachers associations in Fairfax County Virginia have forced Virginians to confront the issue of public employees’ willful refusals to perform the duties of their employment. From the Washington Post, “Teachers in Fairfax revolt against fall plans, refusing to teach in-person,” June…
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Stop the Problem Before It Starts
by Chris Braunlich With the General Assembly taking up policing reform in this summer’s special session, there should be at least one bill stopping a problem before it begins. Most big problems are created by a small number of people. The same is true of police officer transgressions. Most police officers are good police officers,…