Day: June 23, 2023

U.S. 13-Year-Olds Show ‘Historic Declines’ in Math and Reading

Susan Berry, PhD

Math and reading achievement for 13-year-olds in the United States is at its lowest level in decades, according to test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) examination, also known as the Nation’s Report Card.

According to results released Wednesday by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the average mathematics score for 13-year-olds plunged nine points between the 2019‒20 and 2022‒23 school years, while the average reading score declined four points over the same time period.

Read More

Homeland Security Secretary Appoints AFT President Randi Weingarten to Security Council to Advise on Keeping Schools Safe from ‘Terrorism’

Susan Berry, PhD

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced Wednesday that American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten is among 20 new members appointed to his Homeland Security Academic Partnership Council (HSAPC), which seeks to advise the DHS secretary on “campus safety and security, improved coordination, research priorities, hiring, and more.”

Read More

Democratic Virginia Candidates Compete for Primary Wins in Newly Drawn Districts

The Center Square

In yesterday’s General Assembly primaries, competition was fierce among Democrats for unclaimed Senate districts newly defined in Virginia’s last redistricting in 2021. 

Incumbents represented a little more than one-third of the commonwealth’s senatorial candidates. Ten Democratic Senators returned to contend for their seats, with eight competing against newcomers and two squaring off against each other for the up-for-grabs 18th District. Four of the eight incumbent-challenger Democratic races went to the current Senators.

Read More

IRS Whistleblower Says Search Warrants, Charges for Hunter Biden Blocked, Joe Met Chinese Client

Just the News

A supervisory IRS agent divulged to Congress widespread interference in the probe of Hunter Biden, including the blockage of two search warrants and more extensive criminal charges, while also confirming the government had evidence that Joe Biden met with his son’s Chinese business partners, according to testimony released Thursday,

Just the News obtained the testimony of IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley shortly after the House Ways and Means Committee voted to pierce Hunter Biden’s tax privacy and make the agent’s allegations of preferential treatment and political interference public.

Read More

Poll: Trump Maintains Double-Digit Lead over DeSantis in South Carolina

Virginia Star Staff

Among likely South Carolina primary voters, Former President Donald Trump has maintained his lead over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis 41 percent to 18 percent in the multi-candidate ballot, according to the latest National Research poll commissioned by American Greatness.

Last month, Trump led DeSantis 43 percent to 18 percent among likely South Carolina primary voters. This change is well within the survey’s margin of error (+/- 4.38 percent), so it is not considered to be statistically significant.

Read More

Virginia Primary Voters Decide on GOP Candidates

The Center Square

Tuesday’s primaries in Virginia saw two hotly contested Republican Senate races, and five that were won by a substantial margin after the most recent redistricting scrambled seats.

Former state Sen. Glen Sturtevant eked out a victory over Sen. Amanda Chase, the incumbent of the 11th district, which was redistricted to what is now the commonwealth’s 12th Senate district. Newcomer Nikki Baldwin ran for the 29th district in her first race for public office while battling it out with Maria Martin, who competed unsuccessfully in 2019 against Democrat Luke Torian for Delegate district 52, in her second race for public office. 

Read More

Commentary: America Wakes Up to Woke

Virginia Star Staff

Wokeness was envisioned as a new reboot of the coalition of the oppressed. 

Those purportedly victimized by traditional America would find “intersectional” solidarity in their victimhood owing to the supposed sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and other alleged American sins, past and present. 

Read More

Biden Admin Gives Ford, Foreign Company Whopping $9 Billion Loan for EV Plants

Virginia Star Staff

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday announced a conditional loan of up to $9.2 billion to a joint electric vehicle venture between Ford and Korean battery maker SK On.

When combined with state subsidies offered to the joint venture, known as BlueOval SK, the record-breaking loan means that taxpayers will be financing nearly the entire $11.4 billion investment by Ford and SK, according to Blomberg. The loan is the latest in a series of increasingly large offers from the DOE’s Loan Program Office (LPO), which had its lending authority surge to $400 billion — more than 10 times the $33 billion it has issued since 2009 —following the passage of President Joe Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act.

Read More

Commentary: School Choice’s Rapid Post-Pandemic Expansion Sets Up a Big Pass/Fail Test for Education

RealClearWire

A growing number of states are adopting a comprehensive new type of school choice program that would pose a threat to public schools if many students were to leave them for a private education. 

Eight states – including Arizona, Florida, Indiana, and West Virginia – have approved “universal” or near-universal school choice laws since 2021. They open the door completely to school choice by making all students, including those already in private schools and from wealthy families, eligible for about $7,000 to $10,000 in state funding each year for their education. 

Read More