Bacon's Rebellion

  • What Role Will “Equity” Play in UVa’s Pay Raises This Year?

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    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    The College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia will be using “equity” as a criterion in allocating pay raises in the coming year, according to a memo distributed by Interim Dean David L. Hill.

    Hill has divided the 5% pool of funds available for pay raises into three portions. One portion, accounting for 20% of the 5%, will go to “standard promotion raises,” in which “equity” is one criterion among several. The second portion, accounting for 40%, makes no reference to equity; but a third portion, also accounting for 40%, allows department chairs and directors to “address additional merit and equity considerations in their departments and programs.”

    The memo does not define what Hill means by “equity.” But the pay raises will be handed out in a context in which College employees are required to submit “diversity statements” in their annual reviews describing their commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in teaching, research and service.

    When Bacon’s Rebellion asked if pay raises would be tied to race, ethnicity, sex, or sexual orientation, John Carfagno, the College’s director of communications, denied that they would. Responded Carfagno:

    The communication you reference outlines efforts by the Dean’s Office to evaluate potential pay inequities between faculty members who have similar roles, academic backgrounds, performance, and scholarly activities. These can arise due to many factors, including the timing and mode of one person’s hiring relative to another. These decisions are made independent of the traits you referenced in your email to Dean Hill.

    (more…)

  • The Last Friday in May

    Posted on

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    James A. Bacon

    Rebecca Lear

    by Kerry Dougherty

    When I emailed Rebecca Lear earlier this week I told her I was writing a piece on Monday’s anniversary of the mass shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center and wondered if she had time to meet me. It was May 31, 2019 that a deranged city employee went on a shooting spree, killing 12 people and injuring four.

    Lear, who worked on the third floor of Building 2 where five people were killed and three were injured, readily agreed to get together but told me the survivors would not be commemorating the massacre on May 31, 2019.

    Instead, they recognize today as the anniversary.

    “Those of us that were in the building that afternoon will never consider May 31 to be the anniversary, it will always be the last Friday in May,” Lear replied. “There will be a few of us gathered at Bldg 2 at 3:45 Friday then heading to New Realm raise a glass to our lost 12.”

    Makes sense. (more…)

  • Fix One Thing — School Physical and Electronic Security

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    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    I offer an apolitical suggestion. We know how to begin to fix school security.

    Do it.

    Step 1. Every school division has a security instruction. How many of them monitor whether that guidance is being followed? I will let them answer that.

    Step 2. The more complete solution is deployment of integrated combinations of physical and electronic security systems. System integrators who specialize in school security can help with requirements definition for any facility and tailor expandable solutions to budgets. That is their business and they are good at it.

    As an example of what is possible, see ADT’s integrated intrusion security and fire detection and alarm system offerings for K-12 schools.

    When people say “do something”, this is the kind of solution on which all of us can agree. Do it. (more…)

  • A Budget Deal Emerges

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Sen. Janet Howell (D-Fairfax), chair of Senate Finance and Del. Barry Knight (R-Virginia Beach), chair of House Appropriations. Photo credit: Richmond Times Dispatch

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports there is an agreement on the state budget. There have been hints in the news about it all week, with the General Assembly announcing that it would come back to Richmond June 1 to take up various measures. All the details will not be available until late Sunday or Monday, but the chairs of the two money committees have released the highlights.

    I will defer to our tax expert, Steve Haner, to discuss the revenue aspects of the deal. It looks to be the compromise that he has said was on the table all along—some increase in the standard deduction (but not entirely what the Governor proposed) along with a refundable tax credit.

    I want to focus on one surprise in the package that represents two major changes in state policy. The proposed deal includes $320 million in general fund appropriations this year and an additional $150 million in the future, contingent on revenue, to help fund the expansion of the “I-64 gap” between Bottoms Bridge near the Henrico/New Kent border and James City County. This is the project I wrote about earlier and, surprisingly to me, engendered a lot of comments. (more…)

  • Governor Youngkin’s Private-Sector Experience Appears to be Working in Government

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    sherlockj

    Governor Glenn Youngkin speaks during a news conference announcing the latest report of the Department of Education

    by James C. Sherlock

    This article is about Governor Youngkin’s executive leadership and management, not his policies.

    The reviews so far are generally good.

    We normally elect Governors with little experience as operating executives. It is a rare gubernatorial resume that does not include experience as either a politician or a lawyer or both.

    That changed with Glenn Youngkin. He is an engineer and a former chief executive of a complex and very successful private corporation. His experience in private industry honed the leadership and management skills and methods he has brought to government.

    It is important to understand how well that is working in his job as chief executive of Virginia’s sprawling bureaucracies. Bureaucracies are notoriously passive-aggressive. They despise change, and often refuse to support it.

    In this case, the uniformly positive reports reaching me from the senior levels of government are pleasantly unexpected and bode well. (more…)

  • Virginia’s Economic Recovery Among Weakest in the Nation… Says Virginia’s Top Economic Developer

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    James A. Bacon

    Jason El Koubi. Photo credit: Mark Robertson-Baker, UVA Wise, by way of Cardinal News.

    by James A. Bacon

    Governor Glenn Youngkin, Republicans, and other critics of the previous governor’s economic policies are not the only ones who are worried about Virginia’s slow rate of economic growth. Jason El Koubi, CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, finds the Old Dominion’s lagging economic performance to be troubling, too.

    Virginia currently ranks No. 47 in its jobs recovery, he said at the Southwest Virginia Economic Forum Wednesday.“ We are one of the most sluggish states in terms of getting back to our pre-employment baseline.” Reports Cardinal News: 

    This is really concerning, not only because we haven’t recovered but because we’re hanging out with the wrong crowd right now. The states that have ‘powered out of the pandemic’ – North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida – were not only top growth states before the shutdown, but they’re Virginia’s economic development competitors.

    These are our neighbors, and this is the crowd we compete with. This is the crowd that we really need to hang with.

    (more…)

  • Shocker: After Years of Identity Politics, Hate Speech Is on the Rise in Loudoun Schools

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    James A. Bacon

    Image source: Loudoun County Public Schools by way of WTOP News.

    by James A. Bacon

    Racial slurs and hate speech are on the rise in Loudoun County Public Schools, according to data released by the school system. Forty incidents were reported in March alone, although the monthly numbers have declined modestly since then.

    “They have clearly spiked, particularly since February, and continue to be high,” Deputy Superintendent Ashley Ellis told the school board Tuesday. “This is very unsettling data to see.” So reports WTOP News, among many media outlets.

    Yes, it is unsettling to see such a spike, especially considering that reports of hate speech were extremely low — three to five incidents monthly — earlier in the school year. Numerous questions arise, the foremost of which is why. Why has the incidence of reported hate speech exploded? Have Loudoun County schools turned overnight into hotbeds of racism? If so, what does this tell us about the effectiveness of the school board’s years-long effort to expunge racism from the system? Clearly, it’s not working. Indeed, it would appear that the school board’s aggressive “anti-racism” policy has proven spectacularly counter-productive.

    Perhaps the lesson is this: if you want to end racism, stop talking about race. (more…)

  • Who Holds the UVa Alumni Association Accountable?

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    James A. Bacon

    by Walter Smith

    Who owns the University of Virginia? The answer is clear: as an agency of the state government, UVa is owned by the citizens of Virginia. The governor appoints the members of its governing board, the General Assembly allots a significant percentage of its budget, and, although it has been granted considerable autonomy, the university must abide by state rules and regulations, such as, to mention just one, the Freedom of Information Act.

    But who owns the University of Virginia alumni association — a nonprofit entity that, according to its Form 990, has $582 million in assets? And what mechanisms exist to hold the association’s leadership accountable for its actions?

    The answer to that question is less immediately obvious. After digging into the matter, I’ve reached the conclusion that the alumni association is accountable to no one — certainly not to the UVa alumni. It is run by a self-perpetuating clique, which is free to indulge its decidedly ideological preferences largely uncontested. Transparency is minimal. and most alumni are clueless.

    The UVa alumni association is not unique in this regard. My findings likely apply to alumni associations across the country and, indeed, to most nonprofit organizations generally. The story of how unaccountable, tax-advantaged nonprofits exercise extraordinary influence over our society is one of the great untold stories of our age. (more…)

  • Where “Equity” Means Failing Equally

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    James A. Bacon

    Louise Lucas, Chair, Senate Education and Health Committee photo credit: Virginian-Pilot

    by James A. Bacon

    State Senator Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, doesn’t just take issue with the Youngkin administration’s interpretation of the data regarding the deteriorating quality of education in Virginia public schools, she finds Governor Glenn Youngkin’s position to be morally reprehensible. Here’s what she said in response to the release of his report, “Our Commitment to Virginians”:

    We all know Governor Youngkin’s end goal – to erase Black history and any mention of equity from Virginia’s curricula. This misguided effort based on fake news and debunked theories is an outright attack from the far right, riling up racist constituencies with lies and deceit. This report shows once again that Governor Youngkin wants to take us back to the days of Jim Crow – and I would know, having lived through it. His backwards thinking will throw Virginia’s progress in reverse, harming the next generation and hindering the Commonwealth’s future.

    This incoherent jumble of leftist rhetoric is unplugged from reality. Youngkin doesn’t want to “erase Black history.” His report is not based on “fake news,” but state government data. He’s not riling up “racist constituencies” with his calls to strengthen educational standards and close the racial achievement gap. And he certainly doesn’t want to “take us back to the days of Jim Crow,” if by that is meant the re-segregation of public schools.

    If Lucas were a blogger, one might dismiss her bile as coming from the lunatic fringe. But as Chair of the Senate Education & Health Committee, she is in a position to thwart Youngkin’s educational reforms. And she’s far from alone. Democratic Caucus Chair Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, though less intemperate in her language, comes from the same place. She described Youngkin’s principles for reforming education as “dog-whistle talking points,” “tomfoolery,” and “platitudes and promises based on lies.” (more…)

  • What the Wind Project Costs You and Who Pays

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    Steve Haner

    The annual revenue required from Virginia customers to finance Dominion Energy Virginia’s offshore wind installation. It peaks at about $800 million in 2027, driving the amount to be collected on monthly bills. Source: SCC Testimony. Click for larger view.

    by Steve Haner

    If the project goes as planned, the consumer cost for Dominion Energy Virginia’s offshore wind installation will rapidly rise to a peak in 2027 and then descend annually over the following 20 years. If it produces power for 30 years, in the final phase the revenue related to the project will exceed the remaining capital costs.

    What is this going to cost Dominion’s captive ratepayers?  There is also a related but often ignored question: which of those customers did the Virginia General Assembly exempt from those costs, effectively bumping up the price to those not exempt? (more…)

  • A Rebuttal Regarding Changes in Election Laws and Changes in Turnout

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    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Putting aside the comparison with Georgia, I want to take issue with James Sherlock’s comparison of turnout in earlier Virginia gubernatorial elections with the turnout after significant recent changes in the Commonwealth’s elections laws. First of all, comparing the 66.5% turnout in the 1989 election, in which Doug Wilder became the first Black person in the nation to be elected governor, to any other election is misleading. That was an historic event; of course there would be massive turnout.

    More importantly, however, in this type of analysis, one needs to look at the relative levels of registration. Research has shown that increases in registration, especially some variant of automatic registration such as Motor Voter, do not translate into a comparable rise in turnout. In fact, they may result in a decrease in the turnout rate. If registration is relatively low, as it has been historically in Virginia, it is likely those registered are the most committed and the most likely to vote. (See here and here for more discussion of these findings.)

    Comparisons of registered voters, population size, and relevant percentages provide strong evidence that recent changes in election laws helped expand the number of people participating in the 2021 gubernatorial election. (more…)

  • Personnel Shortages that Plague Virginia’s Health Facilities Inspection Staff in the Hands of Budget Negotiators

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    sherlockj

    UVa Hospital

    by James C. Sherlock

    One of the most important responsibilities of Virginia state government is to inspect medical facilities and home care providers to ensure we are safe when we enter their care.

    It continues to fail in that responsibility thanks to years of Virginia budgets that have consciously ignored the need for increased inspector staff and increased salaries with which to competitively hire that staff.

    I have reported for a long time that the staffing of the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) Office of Licensing and Certification (OLC) is scandalously deficient. Based upon an update today from OLC, it remains so.

    That organization has only half of the inspectors it needs to carry out its defined responsibilities.

    Those highly skilled and very dedicated people, largely registered nurses, are asked to do every day for Virginians what we cannot do for ourselves and what our elected representatives have refused for decades to properly fund them to do.

    Think of that next time you use the facilities and home providers they are required for your safety to inspect.

    We hope the current General Assembly budget negotiators keep it in mind for themselves and their families.

    Or the Governor sends the budget back until they do. (more…)

  • When You’ve Lost the WaPo Editorial Board…

    Posted on

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    James A. Bacon

    Dogs and cats sleeping together…

    by James A. Bacon

    Rumor has it that the devil has canceled his natural gas account, shut down the fiery furnaces of Hades, and installed air conditioning. In other words, hell has frozen over. Amidst the proliferating signs and wonders signaling the possible end of times, none is more startling than The Washington Post editorial endorsement of the Republican Youngkin administration’s recent report on the perilous condition of Virginia’s public schools.

    The report “documented a years-long trend of declining student performance and glaring racial, ethnic and income achievement gaps that have been hidden from public view,” states the Post piece. The editorial writer dismissed criticism coming from “Democrats and their allies in the teachers union,” and even blew off an analysis by the Post’s own “news” reporters that highlighted a narrow flaw in the report.

    Democrats did not respond well to the implication that the quality of public schools in Virginia suffered immensely on their watch and that, for all their preoccupation with “equity,” the educational achievement gap between Asians and Whites on the one hand and Blacks and Hispanics on the other has gotten worse, not better, in recent years. Critics latched on to one particular point — the perils of comparing state Standards of Learning test results with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) — by which they hoped to discredit the entire body of evidence in the report. (more…)

  • Miyares Wins Partial Transparency Victory

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    by

    Steve Haner

    Jason Miyares, Attorney General of Virginia

    by Steve Haner

    Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) was partially successful in his efforts to challenge much of the secrecy shielding key data in Dominion Energy Virginia’s application to build its planned offshore wind facility, with some useful precedents set for the future.

    Just before the hearings on the application began last week, a State Corporation Commission hearing examiner accepted the Attorney General’s office’s motion in part and rejected it in part. As a result, several portions of the SCC staff testimony have been filed again with dozens of previously redacted sections now open. (more…)

  • Progressive Takeover of Educational Institutions – Virginia PTA Edition

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    sherlockj

    Virginia PTA President Pamela Croom

    by James C. Sherlock

    The Richmond Times Dispatch published an article on Sunday about a Virginia PTA (VAPTA) conference at Atlee High School in Mechanicsville.

    Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera spoke to the attendees about the administration’s recent education report.

    That report assessed that Black and Hispanic students from impoverished families had entered COVID with major academic disadvantages and then suffered the worst learning losses during COVID.

    She affirmed the administration’s commitment “to ensure that there is access to quality education for every child in Virginia.”

    Virginia PTA President Pamela Croom in that same article was quoted:

    VAPTA is still evaluating Thursday’s report.

    If there’s concern about how our children are actually performing in school then we need to look at how we are funding our schools and making sure we are fully funding our schools.

    “If” there is a concern, the solution is money.

    That motivated me to take a look at the profiles of the leadership of Ms. Croom’s Virginia PTA. They are nowhere to be found. A previous web page on board structure has been removed and not replaced.

    So, we do not know who the VAPTA board members are, how they are elected or how their positions on various issues are derived. Let’s look at what we do know. (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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