Bacon's Rebellion

  • LCPS Superintendent Ziegler and the Superintendent of Public Instruction

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    by James C. Sherlock

    Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) can generously be described as “troubled” during the tenure of superintendent Scott Ziegler. You know, the guy who got left holding the bag when his predecessor fled the state.

    To make a very long story short, his fate is in front of the new Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jillian Balow.

    An organization named “Fight for Schools” has sent a 149-page letter to Ms. Balow asking her to remove Mr. Ziegler for cause. The details of the cause apparently took 149 pages.

    Probably something in that letter about two rapes at two different schools by a kid he transferred so he would not be stressed about staying in the first one. (more…)

  • No CRT to See Here. Move Along Now.

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Click to view more legible image.

    The University of Virginia paid $32,500 to Critical Race Theory popularizer Ibram Kendi to discuss “racial equity” for an hour. The university contracted with Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau, according to an agreement obtained by The Daily Wire through the Freedom of Information Act.

    The virtual event took place April 21 last year, and 876 people attended.

    “The University of Virginia welcomes speakers from a broad array of perspectives to our Grounds every academic year and we often do pay speakers fees or other compensation,” UVA spokesperson Brian Coy told The Daily Wire. “Offering our community access to a diverse set of speakers and points of view is an important part of our academic mission.”

    Oh, really? (more…)

  • Things Fall Apart: From the Mountains to the Sea Edition

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    There are more signs in the news today that the social fabric is fraying across Virginia: (1) a teacher poll showing that 39% of Newport News teachers and staff are thinking about quitting; and (2) concerns that urban violence is spilling out of Roanoke into nearby Blacksburg. For good measure, I’ll throw in (3) a two-week-old story about the record number of drug overdoses in Virginia.

    Look, I know people are prone to cherry-picking headlines to build a narrative. The mainstream media does so routinely. So, I admit the possibility that I’m engaging in confirmation bias, highlighting the news that fits my counter-narrative of slow-motion social breakdown and downplaying the news that doesn’t fit. But I don’t think that’s what’s happening. I think we’re seeing  headlines of a type we never used to see before. You be the judge.

    Teacher morale plummets. Newport News teachers are burned out, and many are thinking about quitting, according to results from a survey commissioned by the Newport News Education Association. The Newport News findings actually were less bad than a National Education Association poll finding that 55% of educators responding to a survey were considering retiring or quitting because of the epidemic, about double the number in July 2020, reports The Daily Press. (more…)

  • VCEA Added Costs Exceed $2,000 per Household?

    Posted on

    by

    Steve Haner

    Center of the American Experiment estimate of the cost per megawatt hour of different forms of electricity generation. The red section it adds to renewables is the cost of battery backup. Click for larger view.

    by Steve Haner

    First published this morning by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy.

    By 2050 Virginia’s transition to wind and solar power under the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) could add almost $200 a month on average to a residential electric bill. Previous estimates of the consumer cost of dumping all fossil fuels from power generation have focused on the next ten years or so, but a new analysis looks beyond that to the actual deadline for the completed conversion.

    Commercial and industrial customers would see comparable explosions in cost. These projections are far higher than those prepared by our own State Corporation Commission for two reasons: the SCC estimates do not cover the later years when the utilities must reach full compliance, and therefore do not include all the coming new investments into the late 2030s and 2040s.

    The Center of the American Experiment in Minnesota, which has looked at similar proposals around the country, estimates that Virginia energy ratepayers of all classes will need to pay out an extra $203 billion over two and a half decades, close to half of it the utility profit margin on the massive new solar, wind, battery and related transmission facilities.

    The Virginia General Assembly is currently considering either repealing or amending the 2020 VCEA, which dictated that Virginia’s major electric utilities must eventually stop using coal, natural gas or other fuels that emit carbon dioxide. (more…)

  • State Interest in the Operating Efficiency of Virginia’s Nonprofit Hospitals

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    Courtesy AP

    by James C. Sherlock

    Virginia’s nonprofit hospital systems are partially funded with taxpayer money, pay no taxes, and are protected from competition by the state.  

    The state, having provided all of those advantages, needs to make sure its citizens reap as much benefit from them as the hospitals do.

    Yesterday I wrote that the state has an obligation to regulate the regional monopoly systems it has created to ensure that their prices are kept within reasonable bounds.

    One way to do that is by controlling their allowable operating margins.  

    That in turn requires the government to see to it that they are operated efficiently. It must ensure that their operating margins, which are operating income divided operating revenue, reflect best practices in controlling operating expenses.  

    Optimized operating efficiency has been shown to improve medical performance as well. (more…)

  • Chap Petersen Is Rescuing Virginia’s Kids

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    State Senator Chap Petersen of Fairfax is a Democrat. I often disagree with his positions. But not when it comes to Covid restrictions. Especially the forced masking of school children.

    Former Gov. Ralph Northam was promiscuous in his use of executive orders, which stripped Virginians of many of their basic civil liberties. From the start, Petersen opposed Northam’s over-reach.

    In 2020, Petersen — an attorney — filed several lawsuits on behalf of clients who were losing their businesses due to Northam’s capricious mandates.

    In the summer of 2021, Petersen joined with Republican Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, a physician, to force schools in Virginia to return to in-person learning.

    Out of that union, SB1303 was born. A Virginia law designed to mandate schools reopen five days a week. (more…)

  • Virginia Should Regulate Healthcare Monopolies as Public Utilities

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    Courtesy AP

    by James C. Sherlock

    I am a capitalist, but we haven’t had capitalism in the healthcare market in Virginia since the Certificate of Public Need (COPN) made its way into the Code of Virginia in 1968.

    If we repealed COPN today, we’d still be left with the monopolies it has created and protected.

    All that Virginians have gotten from that terrible law are a lack of competition, a lack of hospital capacity (exposed by COVID), few lower-cost ambulatory surgical and imaging centers, exorbitant hospital prices, monopoly control over healthcare labor and scandalously profitable non-profit regional healthcare monopolies.

    As a direct result, Virginians paid over $1.5 billion dollars to hospitals in 2020 in excess of what they would have paid if Virginia hospitals had realized national median operating margins. That, of course drove up insurance payouts, on which the insurers based rates to make their own profits.

    What the government giveth, the government can taketh away. The best way to lower prices is to lower prices.

    Designate Virginia’s COPN-created regional healthcare monopolies as public utilities. Regulate their prices and margins as with the largest electric utilities. (more…)

  • More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About the Regulatory Process in Virginia

    Posted on

    by

    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    by Dick Hall-Sizemore

    There has been a fair amount of general discussion on this blog lately about promulgating or repealing regulations in Virginia. As a recent post of Steve Haner indicates, the regulatory process also figures prominently in bills being introduced in the current General Assembly. To help inform this and future discussions, the following is a brief outline of the regulatory process in Virginia. There are two major caveats:

    1. The description is not complete. There are details and contingency provisions that are not covered.
    2. As with any major statutory provisions, there are exceptions, many of which I do not attempt to cover.

    (more…)

  • Don’t Californicate Virginia Schools

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    The author was raised in Virginia and attended college here before moving to California. He and his wife have lived in Silicon Valley for 25 years but they follow news in Virginia with great interest. He has consented to let me publish his letter on the condition that I not provide his name.  — JAB

    I thoroughly enjoy Bacon’s Rebellion. The fact-driven commentary is extremely refreshing. Virginia’s accelerated drift toward the California educational model is chilling. While my comments do not represent a statistically relevant sample, they do provide a window into the California model.

    We currently live in one of the highest-rated, most sought-after school districts in the beautiful state of California. The district is and has been well funded, with material augmentation by a large community foundation that ensures any “hole” in state or school district funding is filled; classroom ratios are among the lowest; and after-school programs abound.

    As grandparents, we have the observed the experiences of two of our grandchildren. (more…)

  • End the Subminimum Wage for Disabled Virginians

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Virginia is top ranked as a business-friendly state. How we treat employees with disabilities in the workplace matters.

    by Shaun Kenney

    What are the hallmarks of a business-friendly environment? Competitive wages, opportunities to build wealth, support for entrepreneurial endeavors, freedom to create and innovate, dignity of work, and economic independence and sustainability – to name a few.

    There’s a law on the books in Virginia that legislators and advocates on both sides of the aisle argue stands in direct contrast to many of these principles. It goes back to 1938.

    According to Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers with a 14(c) certificate from the Wage & Hour Division of the Department of Labor are legally permitted to pay wages below the minimum wage to employees with physical, developmental, cognitive, mental or age-related disabilities. (more…)

  • Who Needs a Stinkin’ Honorary Degree Anyway?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by James A. Bacon

    Governor Glenn Youngkin is scheduled to speak at the College of William & Mary’s Charter Day ceremony in three days, when he will receive an honorary degree. Taking umbrage at his stance against Critical Race Theory in public schools, three law school students have started a campaign, “No Degrees for Bigotry.” As of this morning, the petition had 1,341 signatures.

    “Students from historically-marginalized groups cannot feel respected or included when the administration consistently awards honorary degrees to individuals who seek to further their oppression,” writes petition organizer Sophia Kingsley in the petition.

    Clearly, there is widespread distaste at W&M for Youngkin. And not without reason. The law school students are correct in saying that the Governor’s policies are antithetical to the values of W&M, which under President Katherine Rowe has been enthusiastically translating Critical Race Theory into practice. “What are we saying if that’s who we want to give an honorary degree to?” asks co-organizer Skye McCollum, according to the student newspaper, Flat Hat News.

    A fair question. Youngkin might ask the same: Why would he want to accept an honorary degree from a university that embraces values antithetical to his values and to those who voted for him? (more…)

  • Virginia Democrats Cling to Forced Masking of Kids

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    by Kerry Dougherty

    Hey, Virginia Democrats, read the room.

    Rather, read the country.

    As Democrats in the Old Dominion lawyer up and throw hissy fits in a mad attempt to keep forced masking in schools, their counterparts in four blue states spent Monday merrily rolling back the mandates.

    New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that mandatory masking would end in the Garden State on March 7. Connecticut’s Gov. Ned Lamont said he’d scrap school mask mandates on Feb. 28, although he’ll leave decisions up to school divisions. In Delaware, Gov. John Carney declared that mask mandates will be reversed on February 11, with school mandates ending March 31. And in Oregon — Oregon! — health officials announced that school mask mandates would be lifted statewide on March 31.

    Coincidence? Not a chance.

    These Democrats can read a room. The polling on mask mandates must be atrocious. They know that the November mid-term elections are going to be a bloodbath for their party if forced masking of kids — the most visible sign of gubernatorial overreach — stays in place through the 2022 school year. (more…)

  • The Petersen Death Star Strikes Again

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Letter from state Senator J. Chapman Petersen, D-Fairfax, to Scott Braband, superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools. — JAB

    On Friday evening, February 4th, in my capacity as a parent, I received the attached press release from Fairfax County Public Schools which announced the ruling of the Arlington County Circuit Court on the Governor’s Executive Order No. 2 regarding “parental option” for any child masking policies.

    The press release begins by lauding the Court’s ruling as an “immediate action to protect the health of the community and also reaffirms the constitutional rights of the school boards.” It then states that FCPS will indefinitely continue its policy of Forced Masking for” all students, staff and visitors, a regulation which is overwhelmingly supported by our staff and families” which “has been a critical safety measure during the pandemic, especially during the most recent surge.”

    No evidence is cited for any of these statements, which are clearly opinions – not facts. Since FCPS has circulated its opinions via a public forum, I will respond in kind on the two key presumptions: (more…)

  • Budget Actions to Implement the Methods of the Nation’s Most Successful Educators of Poor, Minority and Special Needs Kids into Virginia Public Schools

    Posted on

    by

    sherlockj

    Ex-Curry School at UVa

    by James C. Sherlock

    I am a graduate of the University of Virginia. I am not a proud one on this subject.

    I have just completed yet another review of the centers, labs and projects of the UVa School of Education and Human Development (ex-Curry School).

    The review highlighted two major issues.

    1. UVa’s School of Education has shown an utter absence of scholarship in ignoring the most proven effective methods for improving public education of poor, minority and educationally handicapped kids, upon whom it claims to be centered. Those methods are the ones employed in public schools by the nation’s most successful non-profit charter management organizations (CMOs), starting with New York City’s Success Academy. Shriveled by dogma and fear of the Twitter mob, UVa will not even mention their names.  Yet that school of education is called out by name and disproportionately rewarded in the budget in front of the General Assembly.
    2. We need to study and implement the methods of the CMOs, which specialize in educating poor and minority kids and accept special education kids without any barrier, into all of Virginia’s public schools, not just charters.

    I will offer specific fixes for both issues that the Governor and the General Assembly can implement in the budget before them. (more…)

  • What Was More “Political”: Heaphy’s Firing or His Hiring?

    Posted on

    by

    James A. Bacon

    Tim Heaphy, pictured in 2017. Photo credit: The Cavalier Daily.

    by James A. Bacon

    The Richmond Times-Dispatch ramped up the mainstream media’s criticism of Attorney General Jason Miyares in a story published over the weekend. The headline: “Jason Miyares removed the head lawyer at 3 state colleges. Professors and Democrats say he’s wielding excessive influence.”

    The initial wave of Miyares-critical stories, most prominently in The Washington Post and The New York Times, focused on the firing of Tim Heaphy as counsel at the University of Virginia. The articles suggested that the removal was an act of political retribution for Heaphy’s service, while on unpaid leave from UVa, as lead investigator into the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol last year.

    That charge has dissipated in the face of vehement denials from Miyares, the total absence of any corroborating evidence, and the fact that Heaphy was not singled out for removal. His counterparts at George Mason University and Virginia Commonwealth University were sacked as well, suggesting that perhaps a different motive was at play.

    Whatever that motive is, the RTD found someone to say it was “political.” Reporter Eric Kolenich quotes quotes Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor: “Universities need to be free, open places and not be politicized by the appointment of counsel who are loyal to the attorney general but not loyal to the university.” (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.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

About

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.

Fund the Rebellion

Shake up the status quo! Your contributions will be used to pay for faster download speeds and grow readership. Make a one-time donation by credit card or contribute a small sum monthly.

Can’t wait until tomorrow

For your Bacon’s Rebellion fix?

Enter your email address to receive immediate notifications of new posts by email.

SUBSCRIBE

Search Bacon’s Rebellion

Categories

Archives

The Jefferson Council

Protecting Thomas Jefferson’s Legacy at the University of Virginia

Forgot Your Password?

Shoot me an email and I’ll generate a new password for you.

Latest