Category Archives: Children and Families

Meet Abrar Omeish, Exhibit A in the Woke Army

Posted on March 15, 2023 by | 60 comments

by Asra Q. Nomani

Exclusive: In 2019, Abrar Omeish canvassed for support at a fundraiser for the anti-Semitic group American Muslims for Palestine and said she wanted to change the “narrative” on Palestinians. She was elected to office and launched a tirade against the state of Israel, which she smeared as an “apartheid” nation, repeating the talking points of an anti-Semitic brigade in the Woke Army. Here is the full transcript.

Last month, at Luther Jackson Middle School, parents gasped as a Fairfax County Public Schools board member, Abrar Omeish, stumbled through a clumsy speech and called the historic battle of Iwo Jima “evil,” even though the decisive victory by U.S. Marines led to eventual victory by Allied forces against Japan and Nazi Germany and its leader Adolph Hitler, ending the brutal genocide of Jews in the Holocaust.

In the days after, the remarks sparked a national outcry, even spilling over globally, with Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears, a former U.S. Marine, assailing the remarks and a pair of comedians asking indelicately: “How did this clown get elected to a school board?”

Editor’s note: For Asra’s twitter conversation on the event see here.

I know the answer because I witnessed it happen, and the answer reveals an unholy alliance that I expose in my new book, Woke Army, between the Democratic Party and rigid anti-Israel, anti-Semitic establishment Muslim leaders in the United States. These establishment Muslims include activists, politicians, and academics — from Women’s March co-founder Linda Sarsour to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), University of California at Berkeley academic Hatem Bazian. and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

What is particularly disturbing is that this Woke Army set its sights on K-12 schools and their children. School board member Abrar Omeish is Exhibit A in this dangerous alliance in K-12.

I saw it first-hand one Saturday night on Sept. 7, 2019, documenting the evening in video shared here for the first time.
Continue reading →

60 Comments

Posted in Book reviews, Children and Families, Courts and law, Culture wars, Democracy and Western Civilization, Demographics, Education (K-12), Elections, General Assembly, Leadership, Money in politics, Political Influence, Politics, Uncategorized

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Virginia’s Best-Attended School Divisions 2021-22 – It’s Not About Money

Posted on March 13, 2023 by | 45 comments

Overall best attendance among Virginia Public School Divisions 2021-22

by James C. Sherlock

We often, because it is important, concentrate on what is not working in Virginia’s state and local governments. Occasionally it is equally important to congratulate the winners.

In this report I will list Virginia’s best-attended school divisions in 2021-21, both by all students and by sub-groups.

You will be surprised by some of the winners.

These rankings offer crucial measures of school division effectiveness and reflect the efforts and values of students, families and teachers. Continue reading →

45 Comments

Posted in Attendance, Children and Families, Demographics, Education (K-12)

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Private Hospitals show Virginia’s State Hospitals, Colleges and Universities the Way to Efficiency

Posted on March 9, 2023 by | 46 comments

Valley Health Winchester Medical Center

by James C. Sherlock

We read far too often about funding “crises” in government institutions and programs.

The general public, me included, would be far more attentive and sometimes supportive if government would follow the lead of private companies and continually right-size itself and emphasize customer-facing services.

The health care industry — or rather the private healthcare industry — consistently shows the way.

Even not-for-profits are not for losses.

Count, if you can, the number of times in your life that a government organization has announced job cutbacks in administration in order to optimize expenditures and provide better service.

Yeah, me neither.

Students at one of my favorite state schools (it is northwest of Richmond and west of Orange County) are protesting that their faculty is underpaid.

The solution to that problem, if indeed the Board of Visitors considers it a problem, writes itself. Continue reading →

46 Comments

Posted in Children and Families, Education (higher ed), Government workers and pensions, Health Care, Regulations and Government Oversight

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Black Students Disappearing from Classrooms Disproportionately in Ten of our Largest School Divisions

Posted on March 8, 2023 by | 173 comments

by James C. Sherlock

For those who support local control of schools no matter what, I will offer you a “what” to consider.

For those who are nervous about even discussing why some jurisdictions in Virginia have failed to ensure “an educational program of high quality is established and continually maintained” for Black children, that works for Black children no matter their circumstances, you are reading the wrong article.

Twenty percent of Virginians are Black, as were 22% of our public school students in 2022.

Virginia lost 4% of its Black public school student registrations in the last three years, compared to 2.6% of all students including Black students. Black chronic absenteeism statewide jumped from 13.1% to over 25%. All student chronic absenteeism including Black students was 20%.

Ten jurisdictions with at least 2,000 Black students at the start of that period lost higher percentages of their Black students than the state average. Some much higher.

Those ten lost 8,668 Black student registrations. The entire state lost 10,674. Chronic absenteeism of black students in those jurisdictions increased in line with statewide increases.

Without even bringing up school quality, this is unacceptable if we care about the futures of Black kids.

We have to get them in school. I say “we” because it will be a long-term disaster for both these children and Virginia if we don’t.

Lots of different things have to be done to get them there, which is where school quality comes in. But I will share some of the raw numbers. Continue reading →

173 Comments

Posted in Children and Families, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Education (K-12), General Assembly, Race and Race Relations, Regulations and Government Oversight

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Soft-On-Crime Va. Democrats’ Offal Proposal

Posted on March 8, 2023 by | 30 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

Oh look. Another garbage bill courtesy of Virginia’s soft-on-crime Democrats!

Want to see what’s coming our way if Dems regain control of the General Assembly and Governor’s Mansion?

Check out SB1080.

Yep, a gaggle of Virginia’s leading lefties pushed a measure that would classify felons younger than 21 as JUVENILES. Virginia law currently calls those criminals older than 18 ADULTS.

Because that’s what they are.
Continue reading →

30 Comments

Posted in Children and Families, Crime, Corrections and Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Elections, General Assembly, Leadership, Politics, Uncategorized

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Dems Block Bill to Maintain Safe and Effective Classrooms

Posted on March 7, 2023 by | 49 comments

by James C. Sherlock

I have written earlier about a Democratic bill in this recent General Assembly with broad Democratic support that did not pass.

Let’s look at another bill that did not pass, this one from a Republican, and with broad Republican support.

Article VIII. Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution requires the General Assembly to “seek to ensure that an educational program of high quality is established and continually maintained.”

This bill, HB 1461, was an attempt to carry out that responsibility.

It required the Department of Education to establish, within its regulations governing student conduct, a uniform system of discipline for disruptive behavior and the removal of a student from a class. The bill included criteria for teachers to remove disruptive students from their classes:

  • It instituted a requirement for a teacher to remove a disruptive student from a class if the disruptive behavior is violent; or
  • If the student persisted in disrupting the class after two warnings.

It added a prohibition against holding a teacher liable for taking reasonable actions or utilizing reasonable methods to control a physically disruptive or violently disruptive student.  Every school board would be required to adhere to these provisions.

That was it.

The “ensuring an educational program of high quality” thing.

Every Democrat in both bodies voted against it. Continue reading →

49 Comments

Posted in Children and Families

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Virginia Democrats Want to Deal With Criminals 18-20 in the Juvenile Justice System

Posted on March 7, 2023 by | 25 comments

by James C. Sherlock

I received an update yesterday from the NAACP on legislation that caught their interest in the 2023 General Assembly.

One bill that did not pass, but got party line Democratic support in the Senate Judiciary Committee, in turn caught my eye.

It was SB 1080 Juvenile and domestic relations district courts; adjudication of delinquency. Patrons were Senators Edwards, Boysko and Surovell. It was not some fringe bill. This is a mainstream Democratic goal.

The NAACP wanted me to know they wanted it reintroduced next year.

Delinquency is currently defined as criminal complaints for felonies or misdemeanors filed against a juvenile age 17 and under.

Democrats, unanimous in the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted to create a newly-defined class of “underage persons,” 18-20, and handle them in the juvenile justice system as well.

Seriously. Twenty-year-old felons in juvenile detention facilities.

They voted for that. Continue reading →

25 Comments

Posted in Children and Families, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections and Law Enforcement, Culture wars

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Virginia, School Choice and Charter Schools – The National Map

Posted on March 6, 2023 by | 66 comments

by James C. Sherlock

One of the most curious aspects of discussions about Virginia, school choice, and charter schools is that Virginia progressives attack both as a conservative plot.

And mostly get away with it.

The claim is demonstrably preposterous, but effective so far because Republicans don’t offer an organized response.

I offer a map of the United States annotated with the percentage of public school kids attending public charter schools in 2019.

If Virginia progressives can discern some pattern of red states vs. blue states, they should speak up.

State laws vary, but each of the states with significant numbers of charters has a state-appointed charter authority that is not dependent upon approval by local school boards.

“Conservative” Washington, D.C., had 43% of its public school kids in charters.

Far from being totalitarianism, as goes the progressive line in Virginia, this is the result of popular constitutional amendments in virtually every state shown above in green.

Seems voters in those states wanted parents with kids in their worst schools to have options.

So will the voters of Virginia. Just show them the map during the campaign. Continue reading →

66 Comments

Posted in Charity, Philanthropy and Nonprofits, Children and Families, Education (K-12), Elections, General Assembly

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Feeding Petersburg

Posted on March 3, 2023 by | 34 comments

Garrison Coward oversees Gov. Youngkin’s Partnership for Petersburg initiative – photo contributed to the Progress-Index

by James C. Sherlock

I have written in this space many times about the struggles of Petersburg.

Petersburg is blessed in one way.

The Progress-Index’s Bill Atkinson and Joyce Chu may be the best pair of local news reporters working in Virginia.

Mr. Atkinson, in a series of reports, has detailed the continuing struggles of that city to get a grocery store downtown.

The big grocers surround the center of the city in more prosperous, safer areas but have not entered there.

Food Markets in Petersburg courtesy of Bing Maps

It is no secret why. Poverty and crime do not attract retailers vulnerable to shoplifting and worse. And Petersburg is among the poorest and most crime-ridden in Virginia.

A recent Petersburg solicitation for interest in building a grocery store downtown drew no bidders.

The Governor has a broad Partnership for Petersburg initiative to help Petersburg help itself  It is run by Garrison Coward, an external-affairs senior advisor to Gov. Youngkin.

He reports that the Governor is “hell-bent” on seeing a grocery store built there.

I will offer an idea. Continue reading →

34 Comments

Posted in Business and Economy, Charity, Philanthropy and Nonprofits, Children and Families, Economic development, Governance, Poverty & income gap, Social Services and Entitlements

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What Do We Owe To and Expect from a Special Ed Teacher?

Posted on February 27, 2023 by | 16 comments

Abigail Zwerner
Courtesy AP

by James C. Sherlock

On February 16, USA Today published a story by Jeanine Santucci. That is the latest in an excellent series of reports on the shooting of Newport News first grade teacher Abigail Zwerner.

Her article, “Virginia 6-year-old who shot his teacher exposes flaws in how schools treat students with disabilities.” raises questions that Virginians need to answer.

  • What, exactly, do we expect of special education teachers and what do we owe them?
  • What training and resources must we provide?
  • How do we keep them safe?
  • How do we get enough people to accept the challenges and risks?

Any school official or teacher will tell you:

  • That the best-organized parents in K-12 education are special-ed parents;
  • That federal law is very prescriptive and provides little room for error on the part of the schools;
  • That schools’ (meaning taxpayers’) liability for error is open-ended; and
  • That special-ed continues to get more challenging, especially after COVID accelerated the number of emotionally disturbed children and adolescents.

Few school divisions will claim to have any of that under control.

 JLARC in 2020 concurred with that assessment in Virginia.

Longstanding shortage of special education teachers persists, and many school divisions rely on under-prepared teachers to fill gaps.

IEPs are not consistently designed effectively.

School divisions are not consistently preparing students with disabilities for life after high school.

Continue reading →

16 Comments

Posted in Children and Families, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Crime, Corrections and Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Education (Early Childhood), Education (K-12), General Assembly, Mental illness and substance abuse, Public-Employee Unions, Unions

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Virginia Law Enables School Violence – School Board Policies Can Correct It

Posted on February 26, 2023 by | 51 comments

Courtesy NBC 6                                                             6’7” 270 pound student assaults teaching aide

by James C. Sherlock

In 2019, the National Education Association (NEA) published Threatened and Attacked By Students: When Work Hurts, urging lawmakers to address the crisis of unsafe behaviors in schools.

Read about Chesterfield schools in that article.

Unfazed, progressives in 2020 in full control of the General Assembly, led by now-Congresswoman-elect Jennifer McClellan, looked to break what they considered a “school-to-prison pipeline.”

They changed Virginia law to eliminate the requirement for principals to report misdemeanor assault and battery in Virginia schools, on school buses or at school-sponsored events to law enforcement.

Even battery on school staff.

It would seem to me, if I worked in a school, useful to require such violence to be reported to law enforcement.

But maybe that’s just me. Continue reading →

51 Comments

Posted in Children and Families, Crime, Corrections and Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Discipline and Disorder, Education (K-12), General Assembly, Governance, Media, Politics

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Unconstitutional Viewpoint Discrimination in Virginia K-12 Teacher Evaluation Standards

Posted on February 25, 2023 by | 31 comments

Daniel Gecker Esq., President of the Virginia Board of Education. Appointed to the Board of Education by Governor Terry McAuliffe and reappointed to a four year term by Governor Ralph Northam. Date of expiration of appointment – June 30, 2023

by James C. Sherlock

Progressives, in the fullness of their dogma, oppose the entire Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights is specifically structured to limit the powers of government, which progressives find not only unsuitable, but unimaginable.

In the Golden Age of Progressivism in Virginia, 2020 and 2021, they controlled the governor’s mansion, the General Assembly, the Attorney General’s Office and all of the state agencies.

With total control, they took flight.

They have always known what seldom occurs to conservatives not prone to offend the Bill of Rights.

With total control of state government, progressives can enact and have enacted laws, regulations and policies that violate both the federal and state constitutions.

They know it will take a decade or more for courts to push back. Meanwhile they can call opponents “haters.”

After which the worst that can happen is that nobody is held accountable. Except the taxpayers.

I just exposed unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination in the University of Virginia’s hiring process. that was implemented starting in 2020.

The same fertile progressive imagination is also present in the Board of Education’s new (in 2021) Standard 6. “Culturally Responsive Teaching and Equitable Practices performance indicators” (starting on page xv) in “Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers“(Guidelines). Continue reading →

31 Comments

Posted in Children and Families, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Courts and law, Culture wars, Democracy and Western Civilization, Education (K-12), Ethics, General Assembly, Governance, Government workers and pensions

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Stop Coddling Bad Kids

Posted on February 24, 2023 by | 44 comments

by Kerry Dougherty

I have a new hero. I don’t know her real name but in her Southeast Washington D.C. neighborhood, they just call her “Grandma.”

Last Friday Grandma was on her way to chemo when a 15-year-old punk walked up and ordered her to hand over her car keys.

“I have a gun,” he said.

“Baby, you’d better shoot me because you’re not taking my car,” she shot back.

A struggle ensued — Grandma’s hand was sliced by the keys — but she screamed for help and help arrived. Her grandson and some other neighborhood boys heard the commotion, and ran to her defense.

The would-be car jacker was taken away in an ambulance.

Score one for the good guys. And for Grandma.
Continue reading →

44 Comments

Posted in Attendance, Children and Families, Crime, Corrections and Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Discipline and Disorder, Education (K-12), Homeschooling, Public safety & health, Uncategorized

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Richmond’s Crime-Infested Neighborhoods, Terrible Public Schools and Equity

Posted on February 23, 2023 by | 33 comments

What would MLK say?

by James C. Sherlock

It’s Black History Month. Even in Richmond.

As a contribution, I am going to review the facts on the ground in Richmond — in its most crime-ridden neighborhoods and its worst public schools.

Which are overwhelmingly Black. And co-located.

In a city with a Black mayor and a Black school board. And a Black Commonwealth’s Attorney, Colette Wallace McEachin, who, since 2019,

has helped to make Richmond a safe, just and equitable city for all, including victims, witnesses and offenders.

Her office offers many alternatives to incarceration for most non-violent offenders.

She really wrote that. And she has “worked toward dismantling “the school to prison pipeline.” Excellent news.

But, in the real world, Richmond schools and many neighborhoods are beyond tragic.

That doesn’t mean order cannot be restored. Or that poor Black children from dangerous neighborhoods can’t learn.

NYC charter schools have proven for years that Black kids from the very same type of disadvantaged, dangerous neighborhoods that some of the Richmond kids call home can succeed at the highest level.

It just means the Richmond kids from tough neighborhoods don’t learn.

We are going to look at what are measured as the 10 most crime-ridden neighborhoods in Richmond, where the kids from these neighborhoods go to school, and the performance of those schools.

And see what we see.

It is a nightmare. Continue reading →

33 Comments

Posted in Children and Families, Civil Rights, Individual Liberties, Courts and law, Crime, Corrections and Law Enforcement, Culture wars, Education (K-12)

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Government Actors Try to Deflect, Deny and “Move On” from Failures During COVID

Posted on February 19, 2023 by | 37 comments

Courtesy CBS rendering of two CDC spring of 2021 survey findings about American high school girls reported Monday, Feb 13, 2022

by James C. Sherlock

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is in full self-defense mode.

CDC and the left backed, indeed insisted, upon social isolation during the pandemic.

Now they deflect and deny agency in the consequences. They continue to try to insulate themselves from the catastrophic educational and mental health effects on children and adolescents of that social isolation.

A weakened CDC Director is pledging to overhaul the agency and its culture, a backhanded admission of the unimaginably bad performance of CDC during COVID.

The entrenched bureaucracy that is that agency and its culture is admitting nothing. They are counting the days until she leaves.

So, if experience counts for anything, we pretty much know how the CDC “overhaul” will work out.

Virginia is due for the same sort of review of state actions during COVID.

The Northam administration stumbled badly at nearly every new turn after failing to either exercise or implement Virginia’s own pandemic emergency plan. Which was excellent and predicted nearly exactly the course of events.

Then they tried to cover up the existence of that plan itself.

I am not sure that such a review is forthcoming. If it is, it will be preemptively be declared political. It must be done anyway.

The federal government, under progressive management, is “moving on.”

Or trying to.

I hope Virginia government does not make the same mistake. Continue reading →

37 Comments

Posted in Children and Families, Culture wars, Disasters and Disaster Preparedness, Education (K-12), Ethics, Federal issues, Governance, Health Care, Mental illness and substance abuse, Planning, Politics

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