Cash-strapped school districts across Virginia cut teaching and staff positions and crammed more students into classrooms during the Great Recession, as state and local funding fell off, leaving them with a huge deficit of teachers, according to a new report.
The Commonwealth Institute concluded that Virginia schools are now “missing” 11,200 staff members, including 4,600 teachers. That’s the number of additional staff members and teachers that would be working in Virginia schools if hiring had kept pace with student enrollment through the recession, when Virginia schools added more than 42,000 students to their rolls.
At the same time, the state has seen growth in the number of students who often need additional support. The report found a 39 percent rise in the number of students who are economically disadvantaged and a 33 percent increase in the number of students who enter school learning English. The homeless student population is up 73 percent, according to the institute’s report.
The Starbucks cup late night laughs
It seems that Donald Trump jumped on the wrong horse for this one! He looks even more like a fool. Meanwhile, those who don’t think red and green is Christmasy enough…well, most of America is not with you. Suggestion, write Merry Christmas on your own cup. Problem solved.
Starbucks has gotten a huge boost out of someone’s stupidity. The local stores are slammed with customers. Their Christmas merchandise is flying off the shelves in all the Starbucks lobbies. I need to get up there this afternoon before it is all picked over.
Do you all this some marketing genius at Corporate thought this one up? Meanwhile, ho ho ho.
Vive la France!
Vive la France!
Death to all terrorists. It’s really that basic. Multiple terrorist attacks in Paris will not crush the spirit of the French people.
We stand with you.
Free speech–the forgotten freedom
5. President Martin must issue a statement to the Amherst College community at large that states we do not tolerate the actions of student(s) who posted the “All Lives Matter” and “Free Speech” posters. Also let the student body know that it was racially insensitive to the students of color on our college campus and beyond who are victim to racial harassment and death threats; alert them that Student Affairs may require them to go through the Disciplinary Process if a formal complaint is filed, and that they will be required to attend extensive training for racial and cultural competency.
6. President Martin must issue a statement of support for the revision of the Honor Code to reflect a zero-tolerance policy for racial insensitivity and hate speech.
According to the president of the Amherst College Republicans, the “All Lives Matter” posters were pro-life posters (or antiabortion posters, if you prefer).
These young upstarts really need to take a good look at themselves, then at the Constitution. Right now I am ready to call to repeal the 26th Amendment. That would be a good place to start.
“All lives matter” is hardly offensive. Since when are the students running the colleges?
Top Runners? Ridiculously scary!
For months, the GOP professional class assumed Trump and Carson would fizzle with time. Voters would get serious, the thinking went, after seeing the outsiders share a stage with more experienced politicians at the first debate. Or when summer turned to fall, kids went back to school and parents had time to assess the candidates. Or after the second, third or fourth debates, certainly.
None of that happened, of course, leaving establishment figures disoriented. Consider Thomas H. Kean Sr., a former New Jersey governor who for most of his 80 years has been a pillar of his party. His phone is ringing daily, bringing a stream of exasperation and confusion from fellow GOP power brokers.
“People usually start off in the same way: Pollyanna-ish,” Kean said. “They assure me that Trump and Carson will eventually fade. Then we’ll talk some more, and I give them a reality check. I’ll say, ‘The guy in the grocery store likes Trump. So does the guy who cuts my hair. They’re probably going to stick with him. Who knows if this ends?’
There is even talking of doing an end-run with Mitt Romney. If it hasn’t worked in the past, why should it work now? Romney has also said no. Why would he want to do that to his family again?
Medicare fraud conviction in the millions
A federal jury on Thursday convicted a Bowie, Md., couple of orchestrating a multi-year campaign to defraud D.C. Medicaid of more than $80 million between 2009 and 2014, the largest local health-care fraud scheme ever prosecuted in the city.
After a four-week trial in federal district court in the District, the jury deliberated two days before convicting Florence Bikundi, 52, of four counts of health-care and Medicaid fraud and conspiracy, and her husband, Michael D. Bikundi Sr., 63, of two counts of fraud and conspiracy through her company, Global Health Care Services of the District.
Jurors found the couple guilty of eight counts of money laundering and conspiracy through the District-based home health-care firm, and acquitted them of three others.
U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell set sentencing for Feb. 26.
The Bikundis, originally from Cameroon, face up to decades in prison, and potentially deportation, although their attorneys are expected to seek less time.
Virginia had already revoked Ms. Bikundi’s license. She should have never allowed to be a provider. As soon as politicians get hold of this story, the Medicare and Medicaid abuse stories will take on a life of their own. Unfortunately, the losers will be the patients, not these immoral bastards who are bilking the government out of millions of dollars. Additionally, if someone is getting itchy fingers to deport someone, I would start here, once the prison sentences have been served.
Mizzou: The drama continues and I have a new hero
Dale Brigham thought he was doing the right thing.
As anonymous death threats against minorities swirled on social media Tuesday night, setting the college town of Columbia, Mo., on edge, the bespectacled Mizzou professor began receiving e-mails from terrified students.
“Good Evening Professor Brigham,” wrote an African American student in Brigham’s Nutritional Science 1034 class. “There are online threats at our school warning the minorities to not step on campus tomorrow. I am scared for my life therefore, I will not be attending class tomorrow. When can I makeup the exam?”
[Ed. Note: Translation: I didn’t study for my exam because I was out being a drama king or queen.]
Vets dump pill containers in front of White House
A couple dozen servicemen and women marched to the White House this Veterans Day and dumped a large box of empty pill containers, calling on the president and other federal officials to make medical marijuana accessible to veterans.
“Here’s what the over-medication of our veterans looks like,” they said as they spilled the canisters onto the floor. “We don’t want it.”
The veterans and protesters — affiliated with various veteran and marijuana advocacy organizations — argued that Veterans Affairs hospitals are over-medicating veterans, prescribing them a large number of psychoactive medications to treat PTSD. They marched from McPherson Square to the Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters, then to the White House, some smoking joints along the way, which is illegal in D.C.
Veterans Day 2015
Moonhowlings would like to thank all those who have served, both in wartime and in peacetime.
Links to our past tributes to our veterans
Click Clack, you’re off the track–long live the first Amendment
The University of Missouri’s journalism school issued a statement Tuesday commending student journalist Tim Tai for his handling of a confrontation with protesters on campus that was captured on a widely spread video.
The school also distanced itself from the professor, Melissa Click, who was seen in the video calling for “muscle” to remove another journalist from the protest site. It also hinted that her work at the school may be in jeopardy.
“The Missouri School of Journalism is proud of photojournalism senior Tim Tai,” said David Kurpius, dean of the Missouri School of Journalism. “The news media have First Amendment rights to cover public events. Tai handled himself professionally and with poise.”
Click apologized Tuesday afternoon through a statement issued by the school: “I have reviewed and reflected upon the video of me that is circulating, and have written this statement to offer both apology and context of my actions.”
These students and staff have so much to learn. Assault and battery is on-going. Tim Tai is actually a student and has every right to be there. Students really don’t have the right to set up perimeters.
A brief history of Veterans Day
We wish all veterans a great day. Thank you for your service.
Mizzou: Justice or a chance to act out?
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The University of Missouri system’s president, Tim Wolfe, and the chancellor of the flagship campus, R. Bowen Loftin, announced on Monday that they were resigning their posts in the face of growing protests by African-American students, the threat of a walkout by faculty and a strike by football players who said he had done too little to combat racism on campus.
Wolfe made the stunning announcement at the start of a special Board of Curators meeting Monday morning that had been scheduled to address the growing crisis at the Show Me state’s flagship university. The board voted in favor of accepting his resignation. Several hours later, Bowen Loftin, chancellor of the university’s flagship campus, announced he will step down from his post by the end of the year as well.
I have not been able to find any specific examples of the systemic racism that supposedly exists on the Campuses of the University of Missouri. I do know what their demands were. Some of them are absurd.
Phi Kappa Psi sues Rolling Stone for $25 million
The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity chapter at the University of Virginia filed a $25 million lawsuit Monday against Rolling Stone magazine, which published an article in 2014 that alleged a freshman was gang raped at the house during a party.
The lawsuit focuses on a Rolling Stone article titled “A Rape on Campus,” which detailed a harrowing attack on a freshman named Jackie at the Phi Psi house on Sept. 28, 2012. The article, written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, described how Jackie was raped by seven men while two others watched in a second floor bedroom while a fraternity party raged downstairs. The article alleged that the attack was part of a hazing ritual at the long-time U-Va. fraternity.
The Washington Post found significant discrepancies in the Rolling Stone account, including that the fraternity did not host a party that night in 2012 and that a student identified by Jackie as her main attacker was never a member of the fraternity and did not attend U-Va.
That is a steep penalty for being careless and wrong. I also jumped on the story on this blog. I had little reason to not believe Rolling Stone. I grew up 2 blocks from that frat house and I know bad things happen at UVA as well as most other campuses across this country. I also had a friend gang raped while she was passed out at a college near Richmond, back when I was in college. Yes, it can and does happen.
Does Starbucks hate Christmas?
Washingtonpost.com:
Some say Jesus Christ healed the sick and died to redeem humankind. Little is said about his views on the Pumpkin Spice Latte.
Still, secular coffee maker Starbucks has come under fire from some Christians who say the company isn’t repping hard enough for Jesus on its recent understated holiday cups. The problem? Political correctness, according to one evangelical.
“I think in the age of political correctness we become so open-minded our brains have literally fallen out of our head,” Joshua Feuerstein said in a widely viewed anti-Starbucks rant on Facebook titled “Starbucks REMOVED CHRISTMAS from their cups because they hate Jesus.” “Do you realize that Starbucks wanted to take Christ and Christmas off of their brand new cups? That’s why they’re just plain red.”
5 arrested in Haymarket gang rape
A Prince William County woman was raped by five men, police said, in an attack that a police spokesman described as “despicable.”
All five men, ranging in age from 17 to 24, have been charged with raping the 39-year-old victim.
Officer Nathan Probus said that the woman, who lives in Gainesville, went to the 5300 block of Chaffins Farm Court in Haymarket to visit several people she knows.
Police are still not sure whether the woman was drugged, Probus said. But she somehow became incapacitated, and when she woke up, she knew she had been assaulted. She went to a hospital.
