Tag: James A. Bacon
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Another Media Merger in the Works
Virginia’s commercial news media continues its consolidation and self-cannibalization. Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund that owns the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, has proposed purchasing Lee Enterprises, the chain that owns the Richmond-Times Dispatch, Roanoke Times, and newspapers in Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Danville, Martinsville, Waynesboro, and Bristol. If the offer is accepted, almost the entire news-collecting…
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Mr. Youngkin, Pay Heed to Your University-Board Appointments
by James A. Bacon Glenn Youngkin’s winning campaign issue in the 2020 gubernatorial election was expunging Critical Race Theory from Virginia’s public school system. An endlessly repeated trope of the Left is that CRT is an academic legal theory not taught in schools. I (and others) have explained that “CRT” is short-hand for policies based…
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Update on the Richmond School Enrollment Meltdown
by James A. Bacon Yesterday I presented Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) statistics indicating that student enrollment in the City of Richmond public school system dropped 25% this year. The drop was especially pronounced among Asian and White students — more than 60% for both categories — suggesting a massive flight from Richmond city schools.…
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Richmond Schools in Meltdown Mode
by James A. Bacon What on earth is going on in the City of Richmond public schools? According to Virginia Department of Education data published last week, the Richmond school system experienced a 25.0% enrollment drop in the current academic year (2021/22) compared to last year (2020/21). Enrollment declines occurred in all racial/ethnic groups, among…
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A Curious Coincidence Regarding Those Price-Gouging Actions
by James A. Bacon Earlier this week, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced a successful enforcement action against a gas station under the state’s price-gouging statute. Richmond-based 7HC Inc., doing business as 7 Heaven BP in eastern Henrico County, will be required to refund $2,858 to 152 customers for jacking up the price per gallon…
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In Defense of Intellectual Diversity
Here follows the Founder’s Day message from Hampden-Sydney President Larry Stimpert to the Hampden-Sydney College community, Nov. 10, 2021. — JAB Two hundred forty-six years ago today, Hampden-Sydney College held its first classes. Founded on the eve of the American Revolution “to form good men and good citizens” who would be the leaders of the…
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Wake Up Call for Higher Ed
by James A. Bacon How does a college or university stand out from the crowd these days and establish a competitive advantage in the higher-ed marketplace? One way is to focus on the U.S. News & World-Report annual “Best Colleges” rankings and manipulate metrics such as graduation rates, faculty compensation, student selectivity, alumni giving and…
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Post-COVID Public School Enrollment: Still Down by 45,000
by James A. Bacon The headcount in Virginia’s public schools has leveled off in the 2021-22 school year after dropping by 45,000 students during the height of the COVID-19 epidemic last year. Statewide, public schools enrolled 1,251,970 students this fall, a loss of a statistically negligible 786 students. That loss represents a tiny fraction of…
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Deciphering the Latest Events at VMI
by James A. Bacon In my past couple of posts about the Virginia Military Institute, I observed that VMI Superintendent Cedric T. Wins and the Board of Visitors have caved into the demands of the Northam administration for transforming the racial climate of the military academy — not just by updating traditions and iconography relating…
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Buckle Your Seatbelts, HUFs and MBUFs Are Coming
by James A. Bacon For once, Virginia’s Virginia’s $8 billion-a-year surface transportation system (roads, highways, bridges, mass transit) is not in crisis. The system is in pretty good shape, and it is well financed, concludes a new Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) report. Recent tax increases bringing in more than $800 million a…
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In Speech to Cadets, Northam Defends His Treatment of VMI
by James A. Bacon A year after denouncing the “clear and appalling culture of ongoing structural racism” at his alma mater the Virginia Military Institute, Governor Ralph Northam extended an olive branch of sorts. Delivering a speech last night to VMI’s 1,700 cadets, he offered praise of the Institute while also justifying measures he took…
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How Team Northam Botched the Unemployment Insurance Crisis
by James A. Bacon By way of preface, let us acknowledge that managerial problems at the Virginia Employment Commission preceded the Northam administration. And let us acknowledge that the magnitude of the challenge in responding to the unemployment spike during the COVID-19 epidemic was unprecedented. It would not be fair to blame the entirety of…
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Was UVa’s Vax Mandate Justified? We’ll Never Know.
by James A. Bacon This academic year the University of Virginia mandated that all students get vaccinated. With few exceptions, all have done so, as have most of the university’s 30,000 faculty, staff and employees. According to the Daily Progress, only 173 are estimated to be out of compliance. They have until January 4 to…
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The Epic Fail of Loudoun Schools
by James A. Bacon Two headlines from today’s news clippings: From Loudoun Now: Test Data Show COVID-era Learning Loss in Loudoun From the Washington Times: Teachers to ask court to halt Loudoun County school’s pronoun policy Could there be a link between the two? I will argue that there is: that the obsession with “social…