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Jeanine’s Memes
Liz Magill, former Provost at the University of Virginia and recently resigned president of the University of Pennsylvania.
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Does UVa Need to Charge Higher Tuition to Keep Pay Competitive?
by James A. BaconThe Ryan administration notched up two big wins in the University of Virginia Board of Visitors meeting Thursday and Friday. It pushed through 3% tuition increases for the next two academic years and it framed the budgetary debate to its advantage. Rather than engaging in a wide-ranging discussion of how UVa might hold down costs, the Board spent most of its time talking about the challenge of hiring and retaining faculty and staff, with the implicit assumption that staying competitive will require higher pay, more money, and higher tuitions.
The administration carefully orchestrated the discussion of tuition & fees from the very beginning — through an initial Finance Committee meeting in October, a public hearing on tuition increases at which only one person testified in November, and then the Board vote Friday. Each step of the way, the administration made lengthy presentations contending that UVa provides a superior value proposition to students, that it has restrained spending, and that inflationary pressures and cutbacks in state funding compel the university to raise tuition. Discussion was restricted to the data presented by the administration. Past efforts by board members to obtain additional information about UVa’s cost structure — in particular, about administrative costs — were ignored.
Bert Ellis, a former president of the Jefferson Council and appointee of Governor Glenn Youngkin, was the only board member to abstain from voting for the tuition increases. The seven other Youngkin appointees on the Board voted for the tuition increases, as did every holdover from the Northam administration.
The Ryan administration presented a case that was sometimes valid but frequently used cherrypicked data or made points that were shorn of context, as the Jefferson Council has documented in previous posts. There are no simple answers to the question of what the “right” level of tuition & fees should be. Optimal tradeoffs between affordability and costs require a vigorous and free-ranging debate at the Board level that simply did not occur. (more…)
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Bacon Meme of the Week
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Virginia’s Final (Maybe) RGGI Tax Grab: $97M
Virginia’s final (maybe) sale of allowances for power plant carbon emissions produced a record $97.4 million. The price for each permit to emit one ton of carbon dioxide, which is passed to customers, has about doubled in four years. by Steve Haner
Virginia has participated in its final (for a while anyway) Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative auction and the proceeds on the carbon tax set a new record, with Virginia collecting more than $97 million in one swoop. The total carbon tax take for the state is just under $828 million in three years.
The clearing price on December 6 reached $14.88 per ton. It would have been higher but the demand for allowances was so high the RGGI organization released some of its “cost containment reserve” or CCR allowances to tamp down the price increase. The news release on the auction is here. A chart showing Virginia’s proceeds over the three years is attached.
Why the record price? Here’s a solid suggestion: Power producers fear another major winter stressing their systems and know full well that wind and solar are unpredictable and unreliable. They are stocking up on allowances to keep our lights on with fossil fuels.
Just four years ago when the Thomas Jefferson Institute of Public Policy produced this explainer on what RGGI was, the “carbon price” was $5.27 a ton and the prediction was Virginia would collect $150 million a year from electricity producers and eventually their customers. “There is no guarantee the price won’t rise,” we noted, and indeed a steadily rising price for carbon emissions is entirely the point of RGGI.
Pushed by Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) the Air Pollution Control Board voted earlier this year to rescind the state regulation that forces Virginia’s larger electric power plants to purchase allowances from RGGI for every ton of coal, natural gas or oil they burn. So far, efforts to reverse that decision in the courts have failed. (more…)
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Proposed Reproductive Freedom Amendment Could Eliminate Limits
by Emilio JakseticHouse Joint Resolution 1 (HJ 1) and Senate Joint Resolution 1 (SJ 1) have been prefiled for consideration of the Virginia General Assembly to propose an amendment to the Virginia Constitution captioned “Article I, Bill of Rights, Section 11-A. Fundamental right to reproductive freedom.” A copy of HJ 1 is available at here and a copy of SJ 1 is available here.
Virginians need to (1) carefully consider the danger that vague and undefined terms in the proposed constitutional amendment could be exploited to advance an agenda that extends far beyond just abortion rights; and (2) consider the need for an alternative proposed amendment that is compatible with compromises likely to be acceptable to a majority of Virginians. (more…)
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Insufferable and Dangerous Nonsense in Academia – Antisemitism Sector
A rally on the steps of the University of Virginia Rotunda calls for a free Palestine amid the war in Israel on Thursday, Oct. 12. CAL CARY, THE DAILY PROGRESS by James C. Sherlock
I read this morning in the latest issue of Chronicle of Higher Education a particularly smarmy article by a Keith E. Whittington.
He is, among other things, “professor of politics at Princeton University and founding chair of the Academic Committee of the Academic Freedom Alliance”.
Good to know.
He addressed in his article the Congressional hearing that put the presidents of Penn, Harvard and MIT on the hot seat for the unaddressed antisemitic turmoil on their campuses.
Other articles in the same issue called the hearings a disaster for the colleges.
“Since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, administrators have struggled to respond. Many issued statements that faculty members, students, and others saw as tepid, while protests drove deep rifts into campus communities.”
Whittington’s was titled:
“Colleges Can Recommit to Free Speech or Double Down on Sensitivity – The congressional hearing on antisemitism presents a stark choice.”
He offered a false, self-serving choice of only two ways forward.
If President Ryan of UVa had joined the others in front of the committee, they could have gotten past statements to actions, and lack of them. (more…)
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A Day Which Will Live In Infamy
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Dem Shrouded in Controversy Announces Gubernatorial Run
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney from The Republican Standard
It’s official.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney (D) is running for governor of Virginia in what’s set to become a free-for-all primary.
Stoney has courted controversy in the past as former Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s chief strategist. Critics, including former Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D), accuse the ambitious politician of being a hatchetman. (more…)
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Hardest Job in Virginia: Making Aaron Spence Look Good.
by Kerry Dougherty
We tried to warn you, Loudoun County.
We told you that Virginia Beach School Superintendent Aaron Spence was trouble. That he was one vote away from being sacked by the newly elected Beach school board when he decided to bolt for greener pastures. That he was a devoted wokester.
Spence was pressured to apologize. And he did, twice.The Fun Couple is your problem now, Loudoun.
Shoot, the new school year was barely underway before news broke that Spence failed to inform parents – FOR 20 DAYS – that kids were overdosing on fentanyl in one Loudoun high school. He dodged pesky reporters and television cameras with the nerve to ask why he delayed.
In short, Spence is a public relations nightmare.
So it should come as no surprise that the superintendent’s brought one of his old mouthpieces up from Virginia Beach to run interference for him.
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Governor’s Chronic Absenteeism Task Force – Part Three – Vital New State Roles
By James C. Sherlock
A compilation from https://www.doe.virginia.gov/data-policy-funding/data-reports/data-collection/special-education I have found in 18 years of reporting on education in the Commonwealth that each school, each school division and each region is to some degree its own ecosystem.
Taking the example of chronic absenteeism, an individualized assessment of causes could be attempted:
- if a single school‘s chronic absenteeism can be adjusted statistically for differences in its demographics (race, ethnicity, economic status, English learners, IEPs, etc.) to its division norms, and
- if that school is a statistical outlier from its division good or bad.
But those are very big if’s because of the complex algorithm that would be required for comparing. And the results would apply only to that specific school.
I have sometimes compared divisions‘ statistical performances on absenteeism and SOL pass rates against state norms, but usually at the extremes. There are too many variables to sort among the bulk of them. At the division level, the variables are as great as at the school level.
Regional differences are there, but causes are hard to pin down beyond differences in demographics and cultures.
That said, and to some degree for that reason, I offer two new state roles for improving school attendance:
- marketing, which is either not now done at all or done ineffectively, to increase parents understanding of the value of school; and
- investigations and enforcement, which are done sporadically across the state. That is because of both the time and expertise investigations take and current laws that require schools to involve the court system in enforcement.
Those recommendations are not budget neutral. This is a budget year. They are tailored to draw Democratic support. The time for them is now.
Given the time necessary to prepare proposals, it will likely take a special session to address them.
The chronic absenteeism crisis, appropriately designated by the Governor, rates one.
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Governor’s Chronic Absenteeism Task Force – Part Two – Restructure for Balanced Debates
By James C. Sherlock
Lisa Coons, Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction I have watched the public sessions of the Governor’s Chronic Absenteeism Task Force.
The structure of the task force, and its proceedings, have been fatally flawed.
That panel has been dominated by the progressive worldviews of Attendance Works and FutureEd.
I offer as evidence the “resources” for the first meeting on October 24th. Every single one uses Attendance Works or FutureEd for its expert assessment.
Then consider the agenda, discussion guide and this slide deck used on November 7th to set the stage for deliberations.
Such meetings have not encouraged debate, but rather have seemed to suffocate it. The process as it exists seems destined to coronate failed progressive ideas.
Progressive pressure reached the point that a member of the panel, Dr. Keith Perrigan, Washington County Public Schools Superintendent and President of the Coalition of Small and Rural Schools of Virginia, on November 7th felt it necessary to apologize in advance for seeming to be an “ogre” to the rest of the panel.
Because he spoke in favor of enforcement of truancy laws.
The Task Force needs to change that environment and the makeup of the task force or they will get more of what Virginia has already experienced using progressive approaches: chronic absenteeism.
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Norfolk Hipsters & Lefties Try to Block a Military-Themed Brewery
by Kerry DoughertyNow is the time. If you believe that cities ought to be open for business, regardless of the viewpoints of the business owners, if you support the military and don’t consider flag-waving a provocative act, you might want to let Norfolk’s City Council hear from you.
On December 12th it is scheduled to vote on the application of Armed Forces Brewery to open its doors on the same premises that housed O’Connor Brewing in the so-called Railroad District of Norfolk.
The business was lured to Virginia by Gov. Glenn Yougnkin who helped the founders secure tax incentives to open their craft brewery in Norfolk rather than in Florida. The owners have pledged that 70% of their employees will be veterans.
Normally, that would be seen as good news in this military town. (more…)
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VCU Undergoes Intensive Self-Examination
Image from the One VCU Academic Repositioning Task Force website. by James A. Bacon
As students gravitate to degree programs in business, engineering, and health professions with better defined career paths, Virginia Commonwealth University is asking some fundamental questions. The intensive self-analysis could result in the merger of struggling departments or the creation of entirely new ones.
“The question is, are we positioned to serve the needs of our students, the needs of our faculty and the needs of our community?” Provost Fotis Sotiropolous told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
The cost of attending college is up, the traditional college-age population is shrinking, and businesses are increasingly questioning the value of college degrees as employment credentials. (more…)
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Daughter of Heroines
Roanoke College women’s swim team (front row) and supporters at press conference at Hotel Roanoke, Oct. 5. (photo/Scott Dreyer) by Margot Heffernan
The year is 2023 but it feels as if the calendar has rolled back a hundred years for women and girls in Virginia, and just about anywhere else in the Western world. Hyperbolic? Over the top?
Sadly, no.
Each day women are censored, denigrated, and erased; called bigots for speaking biological fact; losing to men in female sports; redefined with terms like “chest feeders” and “uterus havers.” Violent male felons are routinely housed in women’s prisons in at least four states because they “identify” as women. And private female spaces are ceded to biological men in schools and other public places.
Virginia is a microcosm of the problem writ large. Remember the scandalous sexual assault of two Loudoun County girls over two years ago that were perpetrated by a male who gained access to girls’ restrooms. Recall the recent Roanoke College attempt to hijack the women’s swim team by allowing a man to join. Then, on September 27th, at a Turner Ashby High cheerleading event in Rockingham County, several males entered the female locker room without consent from the girls. Some cheerleaders felt compelled to change in the shower stalls or bathrooms of their female-only locker room. (more…)
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Virginia’s News Deserts
Virginia has lost 23 local newspapers since 2005 — a decline of 23%, according to a report by Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Seven counties have no local newspaper; 93 have just one, and most of those are weeklies, reports Axios-Richmond in summarizing the report. Gannett and Lee Enterprises own 36 newspapers that don’t employ any local staff at all, publishing “ghost newspapers,” publications compiled by off-site corporate staffers, says Axios. — JAB
