Tag: James A. Bacon
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Wonders Never Cease: WaPo Gives Fair Treatment to Alumni Rebellion
by James A. Bacon Every once in a while The Washington Post reminds us of the kind of newspaper it used to be — capable of producing balanced journalism. Education reporter Susan Svrluga has published an article describing the rise of what I (not she) call the alumni rebellion. She cites the concerns of Virginia-based…
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Why Teachers Are Resigning: Student Behavior
by James A. Bacon Why are so many teachers resigning from Virginia’s public schools? Based on widespread anecdotal evidence, I have suggested that the breakdown in classroom discipline is a major contributing factor, especially in high-poverty schools. But anecdotes are just that — anecdotal — and others blame low pay, COVID, or meddling right-wing parents.…
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Fairfax County NAACP Gets to the Point on Literacy Instruction
by James C. Sherlock I spend a lot of ink here writing about improving the education of poor kids. I am not alone. In April of 2021, the Fairfax County NAACP wrote a letter to the Superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools asking that FCPS switch from Balanced Literacy to Structured Literacy in reading instruction…
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$8 Million a Year for Higher-Ed’s Non-Lobbyist Lobbyists
by James A. Bacon When Donald J. Finley retired from the Virginia Business Higher Education Council (VBHEC) earlier this year, Virginia’s higher-ed industry lost one of its most effective advocates in Richmond. As Charles Kelley with McGuire Woods Consulting tweeted at the time: “Don is the best example of a true public servant, and he’s…
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K-12 Debacle Update: Richmond Teacher Shortage
by James A. Bacon The Richmond Public School System is facing a teacher shortage after 25% of the system’s teaching staff resigned at the end of the 2021-22 school year. RPS is trying to fill 176 positions before the school year starts in August, reports WRIC television. RPS has formed a teacher retention task force…
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VCU Seeking Prof to Teach Black Queer Antiracist Anticolonial Feminism
by James A. Bacon Virginia Commonwealth University is hiring an assistant professor to teach “Race in Arts/Media, queer of color critique and Black feminist media studies.” That’s quite the academic specialty. I can’t imagine there are many such scholars around. Once upon a time, I would have questioned whether there was any demand for graduates…
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Marginalizing Another Dissident
by James A. Bacon The Washington Post recently published a story about a gubernatorial appointment to one of Virginia’s more obscure commissions: the state Board of Historic Resources, which oversees state historic-site designations. The article focused on Governor Glenn Youngkin’s selection of Ann McLean, who believes that Virginia’s heritage is “under attack,” and has condemned…
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Teacher Resignations Surge as K-12 Meltdown Continues
by James A. Bacon Teachers in the Washington, D.C., area, including Northern Virginia, are resigning in unusually high numbers this year, according to The Washington Post. Resignations spiked 45% in Fairfax County Public Schools and 96% in Arlington, according to the WaPo data compiled by reporter Hannah Natanson. The surge in teachers calling it quits…
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Mamas, Let Your Babies Grow Up Before Getting Vaccinated
by James A. Bacon About 21,000 Virginia children aged four and under have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the three weeks since the shots were made available, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch. That amounts to only 5% of the age group, observes reporter Eric Kolenich, but it’s significantly higher than the national average of 2%. I’m…
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Another Daily Newspaper Circles the Drain
by James A. Bacon The Daily Progress, Charlottesville’s daily newspaper, no longer offers daily delivery on its website, reports WINA talk show host Rob Schilling. Potential subscribers are given only two options at the newspaper website: a digital subscription (introductory offer of $1.00 for 26 weeks) and a month of Sunday-only delivery for $21.67. Describing…
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Arrests for Marijuana, Harder Drugs Plummeted in 2021
by James A. Bacon The war on drugs in Virginia — or, more precisely, the war on marijuana — is mostly over. Last year Virginia law-enforcement authorities made only 2,466 marijuana-related arrests, according to the Crime in Virginia 2021 report published by the Virginia State Police. That’s roughly one-twelfth the number of arrests made four…
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College Admissions and the Legacy Dilemma
by James A. Bacon The issue of legacy admissions to prestigious colleges and universities poses a ticklish problem for conservatives who support meritocratic criteria and oppose racial preferences. There is nothing meritocratic about giving preferential treatment to family members of alumni who, by virtue of having graduated from a prestigious institution, already enjoy a leg…
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About Those 30 Police Shootings in Virginia Last Year…
by James A. Bacon Police shootings generate an inordinate amount of attention in the media, but the number of incidents is remarkably rare. Of the millions of interactions in 2021 between police and citizens here in Virginia, including 187,000 arrests, there were 30 police shootings resulting in injury or death, according to the Crime in…
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Waaah. Rappahannock Jail Inmates Don’t Get Free Wi-Fi.
by James A. Bacon I’m guessing that we’re supposed to feel sorry for Shelley Tibbs, whose sorrowful tale is told in a Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star article about “prison profiteering.” Ms. Tibbs’s son was booked into Rappahannock Regional Jail one recent Friday — on what charges, we are not told. All we know is that he…
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Keep Your Eye on Virginia, Mr. Youngkin
by James A. Bacon The buzz in the national media about Governor Glenn Youngkin’s national political aspirations is reaching a cicada-like crescendo. Over the weekend, Virginia’s Governor spoke to the Nebraska Republican Party at the invitation of Cornhusker Governor Pete Rickets. As the Nebraska Examiner put it, “Many conservatives see Youngkin’s win in Virginia as…