Tag: Guest contributors
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Flag Fight
by Deborah Hommer On March 3, 2021, the Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended against adopting proposed regulations governing the number, size and setbacks of flags and flagpoles. “This was a solution, looking for a problem,” said Planning Commission Vice Chairman John Ulfelder. “I suspect, based on a lot of comments we’ve received, a lot of…
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TJ High School Lawsuit Could Set Important Precedents
by Ilya Somin Last week, a group of primarily Asian-American parents filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of new admissions policies at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, in Fairfax County. The case could end up setting an important precedent: Fairfax County Public Schools is facing a second lawsuit over changes officials…
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The Honor Code Is the Heart of the VMI Experience
by Carmen Villani Honor does not see color of skin. Honor does not see gender. Honor does not see socioeconomic status. What it does see is the “dream” of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. — judging a person based upon content of his or her character. Honor is not a casual word that is tossed around…
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Critical Race Theory Is Taking Over Virginia Beach Schools
by Victoria Manning A Virginia Beach High School government teacher and finalist for teacher of the year recently posted on social media that “capitalism is racist.” An assistant principal in a different Virginia Beach high school advocated teaching critical race theory, sharing an article about the 1619 project. A Virginia Beach high school history teacher…
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Equity in Virginia School Funding
by Matt Hurt Virginia Public School Region VII has demonstrated that large per-student budgets are not a prerequisite to ensure success on Virginia’s Standards of Learning assessments. High pass rates indicate that the schools and divisions in the Southwest are meeting the needs of their students for basic skill attainment. However, to achieve Virginia’s 5…
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How Electricity “Capacity” Markets Work
There has been a lively discussion in the comments threads of recent Bacon’s Rebellion posts about what lessons Virginia can learn from the near-collapse of Texas’ electric grid. A key difference between the two states is that Texas maintains its own reliability council, ERCOT, while Virginia belongs to an interstate compact, PJM. Both organizations administer…
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Shredding Virginia Employment Law One Bad Bill at a Time
by Liam Bissainthe The Virginia state senate has blocked a bill that could potentially change the definition of “sexual harassment.” It would hold even small employers liable for comments defined as either “workplace harassment” or “sexual harassment.” Employers would held liable even for conduct that occurs “outside of the workplace,” and even for conduct committed…
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Hey, APCo, Let Schools Build Rooftop Solar
by Aaron Sutch In another life, I was a middle school teacher. I taught for four years at a public school. It’s a hard age group. But I found the antics of my 7th and 8th grade students more amusing than frustrating. Perhaps I was well-prepared, having worked at a zoo before entering the classroom.…
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Teaching in the Time of COVID
by Matt Hurt Since March 13 when Virginia schools were initially closed due to COVID-19, I have participated in discussions with hundreds (maybe thousands) of public school teachers and administrators from across Virginia. Most conversations centered on the educational difficulties imposed by the pandemic. A common thread through those conversation was the frustration that schools…
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Advanced Recycling: A Win-Win for Virginia
by Chris Braunlich Candidates love to be on the side of the gods – and supporting reduced pollution and greater economic growth is a “win-win.” After all, if Virginia can use new technologies to reduce not only greenhouse gases but also what we send to landfills … while simultaneously creating new, well-paying jobs, who could oppose…
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To Solve Homelessness, Equip People to Rise from Poverty
by David Cooper There is an ongoing debate among nonprofits providing homeless shelters on the best way to address homelessness. Should they focus on finding places for people to live, regardless of what mental health or substance abuse problems they might have, or should they stress equipping them with life skills, even if it means…
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Propagandizing Doth Not A Happy Historian Make
by Jock Yellott “Do you agree or disagree that college faculty are contaminating history with politics and producing closed minded, unscientific and illogical propaganda?” Dr. Ed Ayers, former president of the University of Richmond, a former Dean of Arts and Sciences at U Va, and among Virginia’s most accomplished and respected living historians, was…
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COVID Vaccination Infrastructure Is Pathetically Inadequate
by Kathleen Smith For the millions of dollars that have come to the Commonwealth for COVID-19, did anyone ever think about the infrastructure needed to rollout the most important aspect of a COVID response, the vaccine? According to The Virginia Mercury, The Virginia Department of Health hasn’t developed a uniform playbook or guidance that health…
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Northam Owes Virginians Answers on COVID-19
by Shaun Kenney Former Speaker Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, has been assiduous in his criticism of Governor Ralph Northam’s handling of the COVID pandemic — and for good reason. Consider the successes enjoyed by West Virginia. Rather than plugging in to the federal system that mandated distribution centers, West Virginia instead activated its National Guard…
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What Is a “Low Dead Space” Syringe and Why Is It So Important?
by Verhaal Kenner Governor Ralph Northam has shifted Virginia into phase “1B,” meaning that a “front line” worker, or anyone over 65 or with a chronic health condition, is eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. That’s clearly a population several times the estimated 440,500 that are in the state’s “1A” group – only about half of whom…