Tag: James A. Bacon
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Red Ripple
by James A. Bacon So much for the red wave, much less the red tsunami, or the red once-every-60-million-years-asteroid-extinction that would obliterate the Democratic Party that a few delusional conservative bloggers imagined. The mid-term elections resulted in a red ripple. As of this writing, it looks like Republicans will win a narrow majority in the…
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Virginia Business Tax Ranking Falls Again
Virginia continues its long side in tax competitiveness this year with a No. 26 ranking in the Tax Foundation’s “2023 State Business Tax Climate Index.” That’s a decline from 25th place last year, 24th place in 2021, and 23rd place in 2020. As recently as 2017, Virginia’s business tax climate ranked 16th. After eight years…
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The Woke Never Rest… Because It’s Hard to Keep Up
James Madison University already has a Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) program. Now three WGSS professors are proposing creation of an “LGBTQ” studies minor, reports The Breeze student newspaper. The program, which must undergo a lengthy approval process, would give students “access to a quality minor that would give them insight into queer lives,”…
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“The Fortune in the Book”
Fortune in the Book from Pacific Legal Foundation on Vimeo. by James A. Bacon A new Pacific Legal Foundation video tells the story of parents who fought changes to the meritocratic admissions policy at Fairfax County’s Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, rated the best public high school in the country, in…
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Vote!
What can I say? Kevin Bacon is way cooler than Jim Bacon (although, I’ve got to say, he’s looking a bit more ragged in this tweet than the young guy who starred in “Footloose.”) And if he tells you to get out and vote, you’re more likely listen to him than me. So… listen to…
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Optional SATs Are Here to Stay
by James A. Bacon There are two broad trends driving change in the admissions policies of higher-ed institutions these days. The first is the declining number of students enrolling in colleges and universities. The other is the increasing philosophical commitment to increase demographic diversity, which in practice means admitting more “under-represented minorities.” Arising from the…
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Transparency and Accountability at VMI… and Every Public University
by James A. Bacon Virginia Military Institute Superintendent Cedric T. Wins was awarded a $100,000 bonus after his FY-2022 performance review, and the Spirit of VMI PAC (SOVP) wants to know what criteria the Board of Visitors used in granting him the award. The bonus, which was four times his previous $25,000 award, lifted Wins’…
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Feel-Good Story of the Day: Ambulances for Ukraine
The Richmond Ambulance Authority (RAA) has announced the donation of one of its ambulances as part of the “U.S. Ambulances for Ukraine” initiative. The RAA partnered with the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA), which coordinated donations from HCA Virginia, VCU Health, and the Northern Virginia Emergency Response System to stock the ambulance with medical…
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Internships and Upward Mobility
by James A. Bacon From time immemorial, it has been a priority of Virginia governors of both parties to promote workforce development through community college, job training programs, apprenticeships, and the like. An under-utilized strategy, suggests Beyond Academy, is college internships. Beyond Academy, which markets international internship programs, has published a report ranking the 50…
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What If They Threw a Party and the Wrong People Came?
by James A. Bacon In an effort to overcome “catastrophic learning loss” among Virginia school kids over the past five years, Governor Glenn Youngkin has ramped up efforts to recruit more tutors. This morning, for instance, he announced a tutoring partnership between the Urban Leagues of Hampton Roads and Greater Richmond, and the state’s four…
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Team Youngkin Allocates $7.7 Million for “Extended-Year” School Programs
by James A. Bacon It’s a drop in the bucket compared to what’s needed, but it’s the right priority. The Youngkin administration is awarding $7.7 million in state grants to support year-round and extended-year instructional programs in 44 schools in five school divisions. “Extended-year and year-round school programs provide consistent and structured learning environments for…
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UVa Faculty Senate Censures Ellis for Thought Crime
by James A. Bacon The University of Virginia Faculty Senate has voted to censure Bert Ellis, a Board of Visitors member, for violating the university’s “foundational values” two years ago when he “prepared to vandalize a protest sign” by a resident of the Lawn. Ellis acquired a paint-scraper razor with the aim of removing a…
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Surveying the Damage in K-12 Schools
by James A. Bacon Last month the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released its Nation’s Report Card, which showed that the average math test scores declined by eight points nationally. It was difficult for most Americans to know what to make of the loss. The scores were an abstraction. How bad was the loss of…
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Blue on Blue: Richmond Progressive Attacks White Feminist Privilege
by James A. Bacon There’s big money in telling White people how racist they are. Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo have made millions of dollars doing it. Now Saira Rao, an Indian-American Richmond resident, has figured out how to cash in on the action. Rao has written a book with Colorado co-author Regina Jackson,…
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You Dirty Rat!
From Orkin’s 2022 list of “rattiest” cities in the United States: 4. Washington, D.C. 25. Norfolk 33. Richmond In the list of cities with the most rodents, Chicago took the top spot, followed by Los Angeles and New York. By counting total rat populations, Orkin’s methodology skews to big cities. I’d like to see a…