Tag: James Sherlock
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Richmond, Its Unions and Taxes
by James C. Sherlock Richmond residents should note that: The number of employees at City of Richmond in year 2020 was 4,140. Average annual salary was $56,410 and median salary was $50,001. City of Richmond average salary is 20 percent higher than USA average and median salary is 15 percent higher than USA median. Median…
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Know the Terms of Surrender in Negotiating With Teachers Unions
by James C. Sherlock Franklin Roosevelt thought collective bargaining agreements incompatible with public sector work. Today’s left, unburdened by the public interest, finds FDR’s principles at best quaint. Since May of last year collective bargaining is legal in Virginia for local government employees by local option, but for not state employees. The issues most people think…
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Modeling Success in Virginia Schools
by James C. Sherlock I recently spent considerable time reporting on competing methods of grading in Virginia public schools. The choice of grading system appeared to make no measurable difference in learning. Sometimes you just have to admit that someone else has built a better mousetrap. That is very hard to do concerning something…
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Is The Traditional Public School Grading System Racist? Part II: The Equity Card
by James C. Sherlock Virginia has a policy on grading of schools. As far as I can tell, it does not have a definitive policy on grading of students other than on statewide tests and assessments. That is left to the Divisions. Yesterday I attempted to explain standards-based grading (SBG). Today I will take on what I view…
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The Post “Reports” On Something That Has No Chance of Happening
by James C. Sherlock Governor Youngkin gets to fill three existing vacancies on the Board of Education (BOE) and replace two more members whose terms expire on June 30 of this year. That makes five of a total of nine. Virginians have been watching the headline making depredations of the Democratic appointees on that board…
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The Richmond Times Dispatch, “Hate Groups” and Journalism
by James C. Sherlock The Hanover County School Board (HCSB) is seeking legal assistance in reviewing its transgender policy from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative legal organization that provides its services pro bono. ADF’s key values that it goes to court to defend are religious freedom, free speech, marriage and family, parental rights,…
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A Narrative About Virginia’s Rural Hospitals that Obscures the Facts
by James C. Sherlock Becker’s Healthcare, a widely read medical news organization, published a story on Friday, “892 hospitals at risk of closure, state by state.” Rural hospitals were the topic. It cited as its source a report from a non-profit named The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform (CHQPR), which presents itself as…
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Virginia Policy in the Face of Inflation and Recession
by James C. Sherlock I now expect both higher inflation and a recession, perhaps a deep one. The West is at war, whether or not we are prepared for the effects on our federal and state governments. The bad guys have a lot of natural resources that help keep our economy running. They will cost…
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Primary Care Shortages in Virginia and an HEZ solution
by James C. Sherlock I have written here and in newspapers across the state with a recommendation that Virginia emulate Maryland in the establishment of Health Enterprise Zones (HEZs) to bring primary care to Virginia communities that lack sufficient access to treat people before their conditions require hospitalization. Here I will provide data on Virginia…
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JMU, Social Justice and the Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices (OSARP)
by James C. Sherlock Yesterday I wrote of the pressures on Tim Miller, Vice President of Student Affairs at JMU, to balance competing views on masking. Mr. Miller has had plenty of practice. If he walked a tightrope on masks, he tried and fell flat on his face on diversity training. He also oversees something…
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National Security, West Virginia Natural Gas and Hampton Roads – A Proposed Federal Law
by James C. Sherlock This is the fourth in a series of columns recommending bringing West Virginia natural gas to Virginia and from there to our allies. The only way to do get that done with any assurance and speed under the energy emergency in which we find ourselves and the world is for…
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Virginia’s Greens Need an Epiphany
by James C. Sherlock Headlines from the war in Ukraine have raised exponentially the interest in natural gas and the extreme price volatility caused by supply constraints. It is perhaps useful to understand the uses of natural gas, the prices Virginians pay relative to West Virginians, the decline of production in Virginia, and the costs…
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Taking One More Brick from the Green Wall
by James C. Sherlock The green wall preventing businesses from operating at some level of certainty when and if their development proposals will be approved is missing a brick today. The days of a Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board and State Water Control Board overruling the findings of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality…
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New York Governor Removes Mask Requirement for School Kids – Virginia Mask Advocates Confused
by James C. Sherlock Headline: “New York City says it will end the school mask mandate and indoor vaccination requirements.” And “New York indoor school mask mandate to be lifted this week.” Progressive Virginians have been stabbed in the back. Et tu, New York? So, imagine you have filed a law suit against Governor Youngkin…
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Virginia’s Natural Gas Pipelines, Virginia’s Economy and the World
by James C. Sherlock God looks after the United States of America. The fracking revolution tripled our recoverable natural gas volumes. America is the world king of natural gas. In 2008, the wellhead price of natural gas reached $8 per thousand cubic feet in the United States. By 2012, it was $2.66. It fueled a…