Bacon's Rebellion

  • Hey, What Happened to Times Tables?

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    James A. Bacon

    by Todd Truitt

    Virginia’s new Mathematics Standards of Learning (SOL) includes a return to memorizing the times tables this school year, like 44 other states and the District of Columbia, following a 6-year absence on ideological grounds.

    The prior SOLs’ end goal for basic number facts was Virginia students using cognitively taxing computation strategies (e.g., repeated addition for multiplication), ignoring the cognitive science that, in addition, those facts need to be memorized. The return of Virginia’s evidence-based standards on number facts (the SOL also includes memorizing addition, subtraction, and division facts) are especially important for Virginia’s least advantaged children, who are much less likely to learn such essential skills through outside resources like parents and/or tutors.

    But will Virginia school districts follow these standards or instead repeat the same mistake with math that they did with literacy, choosing ideology over science-based instruction?

    (more…)

  • “Anti-Racism” As Oppressive System

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    James A. Bacon

    What “anti-racism” looks like when it looks in the mirror. Bing Image Creator.

    by James A. Bacon

    One of the seven families filing a lawsuit against Albemarle County to end the county’s “anti-racist” school policies came to the United States from Panama. The father of another student listed in the lawsuit hailed from Turkey. Sometimes it takes an immigrant to see clearly just how racist “anti-racist” policies are when put into practice.

    In 2019 the Albemarle County School Board adopted an “Anti-Racism Policy” with the stated purpose of eliminating “all forms of racism in Albemarle County Public Schools,” asserts the lawsuit, which was heard by the Virginia Supreme Court last week.

    “Defendants claim that they want to stand against racism,” the lawsuit says. “But rather than eliminate racism from the School district, Defendants have done the opposite…. The policy is racist at its core.”

    The suit continues:

    The Policy and the curriculum it mandates indoctrinate children in an ideology (sometimes called “critical race theory,” or “critical pedagogy”) that views everyone and everything through the lens of race. Far from exploring ideas or philosophies surrounding justice and reconciliation, that ideology fosters racial division, racial stereotyping, and racial hostility.

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  • Tax Reform Ideas a Stalemated Assembly Could Adopt

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    Steve Haner

    By Steve Haner

    During his four-year term, tax reductions approved by Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) will save Virginians just under $8 billion, and approximately $1.5 billion or more in additional annual savings after he departs. Most of the rule changes that have produced these benefits occurred in the 2022 and 2023 General Assembly sessions.      

    Then in 2024 the General Assembly stalemated over tax issues as Youngkin stymied a hard push from Democrats to increase several taxes, while Democrats spiked any efforts on the Governor’s part to expand on his tax cuts. A final budget compromise that left the tax rules basically unchanged was the best possible outcome in that environment. 

    This stalemate environment will not have changed for the 2025 Assembly, Youngkin’s final one. A legislative study commission that first met August 14 is heavily stacked in favor of Democrats, 9 to 3, and dominated by legislators who make all the spending decisions. Its work plan includes reopening the debate over expanding the sales tax to cover the digital economy, including the business-to-business provisions that were so controversial in 2024.  

    The data on the value of the Youngkin-era tax cuts come from page 14 of that work plan presentation. Most of the meeting was taken up with a primer on Virginia’s tax code. Legislators are usually better informed on how the money gets spent than on how it is raised by the state.   

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  • The Little School District That Could

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Microsoft Image Creator’s nostalgic rendering of “little school in the Appalachian Mountains.”

    Socioeconomic status is not academic destiny.

    To be sure, there is a strong correlation between the socioeconomic status of any given school district’s student body and the average level of academic achievement as measured in Virginia by the Standards of Learning (SOL) scores. But correlation is not causation.

    Do students in a high-performing district pass the SOLs at high rates because they come from families that make more money… or because they come from families that value educational achievement, which also happens to be correlated with higher incomes? That is a critical question underlying the debate over K-12 education today.

    Dickenson and Albemarle Counties make a useful case study. Students in both school districts scored almost identical pass rates on their English SOL exams at the end of the 2023-24 school year.

    Dickenson is the poorest locality in Virginia measured by median household income. It is isolated by rugged Appalachian Mountains, accessible to the wider world only through twisting, winding roads. Its economic monoculture based on coal is almost dead. Poverty and near-poverty are endemic. More than three out of five students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

    Despite immense socioeconomic disadvantages, Dickenson ranked above average — 50th — among Virginia’s 132 school districts in the percentage of students who passed their English Reading SOLs last year.

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  • Jeanine’s Memes

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    James A. Bacon

    From The Bull Elephant.

  • UVA Suspends Student-Guided Tours

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    The University of Virginia administration has suspended the student-run University Guide Service from giving admission tours to prospective students and historic tours to the general public. The news was announced in an UVA Guides Instagram post Wednesday.

    The story generated national attention. The New York Times was the first to pick it up, followed by NBC News. The story was then repackaged and disseminated widely in other media. The prevailing narrative played up the ideological-conflict angle, noting that The Jefferson Council, an organization of “conservative alumni,” criticized the student tours for painting UVA’s history in a uniformly negative light. The Charlottesville Daily Progress went so far as to proclaim the decision a “victory” for those who disliked the Guides’ “woke version of history.”

    But, as I shall explain, it’s not clear at all why the administration acted as it did or whether the Guides’ suspension represents a vindication of The Jefferson Council — as much as I, as an active member of the Council, would like to think UVA leadership was cowed when we flexed our rhetorical muscles.

    The University administration made no mention of The Jefferson Council’s criticisms. University spokeswoman Bethanie Glover told the Times that the decision was related to “issues and concerns” with the guides’ attendance and the content and consistency of the tours. 

    (more…)

  • Bacon Meme of the Week

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    James A. Bacon

  • Keep Your Hands Off My Single Family Zoning

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    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Protest against proposed “missing middle” zoning in Arlington Photo credit: Patch, Arlington

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    The high cost of housing is a frequent topic of discussion in society and on this blog. Some observers fault local governments for their restrictive zoning practices that limit density. According to this argument, increasing density would help mitigate the increase in housing costs.

    The argument has merit. However, its proponents seem to assume that it is a simple matter for local governments to change their zoning policies. After all, they only have to pass an ordinance to do so.

    The experiences of two Northern Virginia localities illustrate the difficulties local governments face when trying to increase housing density. In short, they end up in court.

    After years of consideration, multiple public meetings and hearings, and much controversy, Arlington County adopted last year what is known as “missing middle” zoning. The policy allows by-right construction of duplexes up to six-plexes in areas previously zoned for single family housing. The ordinance calls for limited implementation—a maximum of 58 such structures per year, for five years, geographically dispersed by zoning district. (The Arlington proposal was the subject of an article on this blog earlier this year.)

    Next door, the city of Alexandria amended its zoning ordinance to allow buildings with up to four housing units in any residential neighborhood. 

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  • Demolishing History: Black Hospital Edition

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    James A. Bacon

    by Jon Baliles

    Virginia Union conducted a staged community meeting two weeks ago to feign concern over the fate of the former Richmond Community Hospital (RCH) so they can instead quickly get shovels in the ground to build new housing developments that they find more important than preserving a critical piece of the city’s black history and heritage.

    In February, the school announced the project to build 200 new “affordable” apartments for students and the public on the edge of campus and raze the depression-era, art deco style RCH building. After significant community pushback, VUU and the developers (who are based in Philadelphia) said they will preserve the façade of the RCH and incorporate it into one of the two six-story apartment buildings that will be built on site. VUU and the developers will co-own the project and share in the profits.

    The school said in an announcement at the time of the recent meeting: “The Virginia Union development intends to adaptively reuse much of the former Richmond Community Hospital and create the City’s largest honor for black medical professionals — permanently preserving the hospital’s legacy after decades of the building being abandoned.”

    Using the phrase “much of the former RCH” is a stretch, to say the least, considering the only parts that will be preserved are the façade, which includes the 1932 cornerstone, and some bricks which will be repurposed in the new building.

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  • Danger In Newport News Schools

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    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Another school year. Another horror story out of Newport News Public Schools.

    This one didn’t have a tragic ending. Thank God.

    In September of 2021 two students were shot in the hallways of Heritage High School by a miscreant who was attending school in a court-ordered ankle bracelet.

    In January of 2022, first grade teacher Abby Zwerner was shot in the chest by a 6-year-old who brought his mother’s loaded gun to school. When administrators were told the kid had a firearm they shrugged and said his pockets were “too small” to hide a weapon.

    And on the first day of school this week, 7-year-old Sharilyah Ackiss, a student at Hidenwood Elementary School, mistakenly got off the school bus on Jefferson Avenue. When she didn’t see her mommy, she realized she was at the wrong bus stop and the confused little girl tried to get back on the bus.

    According to the child, and her grandmother who’s seen the video from the bus camera, the driver blocked the little girl and told her once you get off a bus, you can’t get back on.

    What in the world is going on in Newport News? Read the whole thing.

  • Hate Crimes or Thought Crimes?

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    I can’t believe Governor Glenn Youngkin signed House Bill 18 yesterday, reaffirming his commitment in the words of his press release, to keep communities safe by combating “bigotry.” Even Attorney General Jason Miyares signed on. What a disappointment.

    “We come together as Virginians to sign legislation that builds the framework to take action because hatred, intolerance, and antisemitism have no place in the Commonwealth,” Youngkin said. The bill, Miyares added, upholds “the principles of equality and justice in Virginia.”

    The Youngkin press release frames the issue as protecting members of Virginia’s Jewish community from antisemitism. “As the grandson of Holocaust survivors and a Jewish parent whose kids have confronted antisemitism, I know how important it is that all Virginians are safe regardless of their ethnicity,” said Delegate Dan Helmer, D-Clifton.

    I oppose antisemitism and “bigotry,” too. Just one problem. One man’s bigotry is another man’s truth. Who defines bigotry? Who defines what constitutes a hate crime? Who decides whether a particular act — vandalism, a threat, a shove, a spitting, a sucker punch, or a vicious beating — is motivated by bigotry and warrants additional punishment? Will some types of bigotry be deemed worse than others? Will media-fed hysteria panic law enforcers into panicked overreactions?

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  • Chesapeake’s Monkey Torture King

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Image credit: BBC

    I devote much of my writing on this blog to calling out the freaks and nihilists on the far left. Normally, I’m content to let regime media do the same for the wackos on the far right. But once in a while, a story about derangement on the right crops up that can’t be ignored.

    I missed this particular story when it first surfaced in March. But it is so utterly depraved that when I finally encountered it, I could not let it pass. Maybe the far-left eco-nihilists are right: humanity is such a cancerous blight on the planet that it deserves to die off.

    Michael Macartney, a 50-year-old Chesapeake man, is a former motorcycle gang member and prison inmate. Back in March, in the anodyne words of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to create and distribute “animal crushing videos.”

    What, you might ask, are animal-crushing videos?

    (more…)

  • About Those Police Manpower Shortages…

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Virginia voices calling for the defunding of police departments have quieted in the past year or two, but the manpower shortage in Virginia’s law-enforcement agencies persists.

    According to data released in the Virginia State Police “Crime in Virginia 2023″ report, police and sheriff departments, the state police, university police, and miscellaneous agencies managed to increase their ranks by 347 officers, or about 1.2% compared to the year before. (The number of civilian employees actually declined by about 100.)

    But local media report that law-enforcement agencies are still lamenting their inability to fill their ranks. The City of Richmond, down 160 employees, graduated only 10 recruits from the city’s police training program in March, according to WWBT. The Fairfax County Police Department has more than 200 vacancies, reported WJLA in June. Schools across Hampton Roads are complaining of a shortage of school resource officers, said WTKR earlier this week.

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  • Now It’s Hot. You Still Thank Coal and Gas for Staying Cool.

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    Steve Haner

    The story on this hot day in August is the same as it was on a cold day in January. You need to thank coal and natural gas for the air conditioning keeping you cool and forget the fantasy that it will eventually be wind turbines and solar panels doing the job. It certainly won’t be within decades, and it probably never will be.

    The PJM website that tracks power demand and the various generation sources producing the electricity is so effective at destroying the “energy transition” narrative, the powers that be will get rid of it one day.

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  • Assaults on Police Officers Up in 2023

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Is the level of crime in Virginia getting worse or getting better? The answer depends largely on what metric you use. If you focus on the declining number of homicides between 2022 and 2023 (the year for which statewide Virginia data have just been released), then it definitely looks like violent crime is heading down. But if you focus instead on the number of aggravated assaults, violent crime is up. The fact is, according to the statistics published by the Virginia State Police in its “Crime in Virginia 2023” report, last year was a mixed bag, with some categories of crime logging fewer offenses and some more.

    The numbers matter because people want to know if their communities are getting safer or less safe. Is society trending toward order or disorder?

    To address those questions, I look at two sets of statistics that reflect police interactions with the public: the number of police-involved shootings and the number of assaults on police officers. If society is trending toward order and stability, police will have fewer violent encounters with the public. If society is trending toward disorder, people will be more likely to confront police and/or resist arrest, leading to more such encounters.

    Over the five years between 2018 and 2023, the number of assaults on Virginia police officers more than doubled to 3,243, and injuries (mostly minor) almost tripled. Fortunately, the number of Virginia officers killed in the line of duty remains fairly low at one or two per year (although the only acceptable number is zero).

    (more…)

Now Available

Book cover of 'Dust Mites: A Second American Revolution' by James A. Bacon, featuring astronauts planting a flag with a blue and white emblem on a lunar landscape, with Earth visible in the background.
For sale on Amazon.com

The year: 2075. The American colonies on the Moon are getting restless under Washington’s tyrannical rule….

This second edition of “Dust Mites” has a snazzy new cover, includes helpful lunar maps, and is 5,000 words tighter than the original. The sequel, “Trogs,” is scheduled for publication this summer.

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Bacon’s Rebellion is Virginia’s leading politically non-aligned portal for news, opinions and analysis about state, regional and local public policy. Read more about us here.

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