david i. backer
@schooldaves.bsky.social
associate prof of education policy. former high school teacher. education, ideology, policy, finance, climate, socialism. he/him. https://linktr.ee/davidibacker
Pinned
david i. backer
@schooldaves.bsky.social
· Sep 13
As Public as Possible - The New Press
A witty and provocative treatise on the financial policies we’ll need to make our public schools work for all childrenFrom the anti-CRT panic to efforts to divert tax dollars to charter schools, the r...
thenewpress.org
My book is coming!!! thenewpress.org/books/as-pub...
Reposted by david i. backer
Congrats on the book! Will check it out
November 27, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Congrats on the book! Will check it out
Reposted by david i. backer
The documents obtained by The Intercept illustrate how the broadening net of on-campus intelligence gathering swept up constitutionally protected speech in the name of “social listening.”
How Corporate Partnerships Powered University Surveillance of Palestine Protests
Internal emails reveal U.S. universities’ playbooks for cracking down on the student movement for Palestine.
interc.pt
November 27, 2025 at 5:05 PM
The documents obtained by The Intercept illustrate how the broadening net of on-campus intelligence gathering swept up constitutionally protected speech in the name of “social listening.”
Reposted by david i. backer
I wrote a book about school finance and socialism, how the structure of school money works and policies we deserve—not just to protect public schools but to make them as public as possible. thenewpress.org/books/as-pub...
November 27, 2025 at 4:03 PM
I wrote a book about school finance and socialism, how the structure of school money works and policies we deserve—not just to protect public schools but to make them as public as possible. thenewpress.org/books/as-pub...
PROMOTE YOUR BOOKS lol thenewpress.org/books/as-pub...
November 27, 2025 at 4:01 PM
PROMOTE YOUR BOOKS lol thenewpress.org/books/as-pub...
Reposted by david i. backer
2 kinds of answers . Maybe 3. 1st, the other best books I’ve read in the past five years — in some order/combo:
1.) Yours, and not just saying that
2.) Rosa, *Looking Like a Language, Sounding Like a Race*
3.) Bonilla, “Non-Sovereign Futures"
4.) @schooldaves.bsky.social “As Public As Possible."
1.) Yours, and not just saying that
2.) Rosa, *Looking Like a Language, Sounding Like a Race*
3.) Bonilla, “Non-Sovereign Futures"
4.) @schooldaves.bsky.social “As Public As Possible."
November 27, 2025 at 1:39 PM
2 kinds of answers . Maybe 3. 1st, the other best books I’ve read in the past five years — in some order/combo:
1.) Yours, and not just saying that
2.) Rosa, *Looking Like a Language, Sounding Like a Race*
3.) Bonilla, “Non-Sovereign Futures"
4.) @schooldaves.bsky.social “As Public As Possible."
1.) Yours, and not just saying that
2.) Rosa, *Looking Like a Language, Sounding Like a Race*
3.) Bonilla, “Non-Sovereign Futures"
4.) @schooldaves.bsky.social “As Public As Possible."
I’m thankful for this review of my book by Max Sawicky in @jacobinmagazin.bsky.social!
“[Backer] provides a cookbook for socialist reforms centering on what has been called the object of the public’s most intimate connection with government: the local public school.
jacobin.com/2025/11/publ...
“[Backer] provides a cookbook for socialist reforms centering on what has been called the object of the public’s most intimate connection with government: the local public school.
jacobin.com/2025/11/publ...
How to Fix Public School Financing
Far too many US public schools suffer from a lack of adequate funding. Solving the problem will require ending public education’s dependence on local property taxes, a funding mechanism that heavily r...
jacobin.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:14 PM
I’m thankful for this review of my book by Max Sawicky in @jacobinmagazin.bsky.social!
“[Backer] provides a cookbook for socialist reforms centering on what has been called the object of the public’s most intimate connection with government: the local public school.
jacobin.com/2025/11/publ...
“[Backer] provides a cookbook for socialist reforms centering on what has been called the object of the public’s most intimate connection with government: the local public school.
jacobin.com/2025/11/publ...
Just finding out about the tax the rich initiative in Michigan investinmikids.org
Invest in MI Kids
Putting kids first. Building a stronger Michigan for everyone.
investinmikids.org
November 27, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Just finding out about the tax the rich initiative in Michigan investinmikids.org
Reposted by david i. backer
This election, we have a chance to send a new slate of fighters for affordability to Albany. Join our campaign as a day one supporter so we can tell Kathy Hochul it's time to tax the rich and deliver a New York we can afford. valdesforny.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:45 PM
This election, we have a chance to send a new slate of fighters for affordability to Albany. Join our campaign as a day one supporter so we can tell Kathy Hochul it's time to tax the rich and deliver a New York we can afford. valdesforny.com
I'm starting a series at my newsletter where I spelunk NYC school finance. I haven't looked into these byztantine flows before, but now that Zohran is taking power I want to understand more deeply.
Here's a 🧵based on my first post in this vein. buttondown.com/davidibacker...
Here's a 🧵based on my first post in this vein. buttondown.com/davidibacker...
Education 040
Quick Links Mia on the It Could Happen Here podcast featured my Baffler essay on the municipal bond market in a recent episode. Check it out.New fancy...
buttondown.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:27 PM
I'm starting a series at my newsletter where I spelunk NYC school finance. I haven't looked into these byztantine flows before, but now that Zohran is taking power I want to understand more deeply.
Here's a 🧵based on my first post in this vein. buttondown.com/davidibacker...
Here's a 🧵based on my first post in this vein. buttondown.com/davidibacker...
Hearing reports that there might be a review of my book in Jacobin tomorrow. 👀👀👀
November 26, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Hearing reports that there might be a review of my book in Jacobin tomorrow. 👀👀👀
Reposted by david i. backer
School people: Great article by @benjaminjriley.bsky.social deflating the "AI hype machine."
Tech hype is literally the founding flaw of US public schools.
If you want to read the full history, my book is now 40% off thanks to Johns Hopkins. Use the code: HHOL25
Tech hype is literally the founding flaw of US public schools.
If you want to read the full history, my book is now 40% off thanks to Johns Hopkins. Use the code: HHOL25
November 25, 2025 at 1:41 PM
School people: Great article by @benjaminjriley.bsky.social deflating the "AI hype machine."
Tech hype is literally the founding flaw of US public schools.
If you want to read the full history, my book is now 40% off thanks to Johns Hopkins. Use the code: HHOL25
Tech hype is literally the founding flaw of US public schools.
If you want to read the full history, my book is now 40% off thanks to Johns Hopkins. Use the code: HHOL25
Reposted by david i. backer
States could similarly organize and resist federal policies by adopting interlinked legislation offering undocumented individuals greater protections, or could establish regional health care policies when the inevitable happens. 4/
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 AM
States could similarly organize and resist federal policies by adopting interlinked legislation offering undocumented individuals greater protections, or could establish regional health care policies when the inevitable happens. 4/
Just gazing at this page and chart, have to get rid of the tab so I'm posting it here. comptroller.nyc.gov/services/fin...
November 24, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Just gazing at this page and chart, have to get rid of the tab so I'm posting it here. comptroller.nyc.gov/services/fin...
Thanks to Mia and It Could Happen Here podcast for featuring my @thebaffler.com piece on the bond market! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...
The Challenges Facing the Mamdani Administration
Podcast Episode · It Could Happen Here · 11/17/2025 · 23m
podcasts.apple.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Thanks to Mia and It Could Happen Here podcast for featuring my @thebaffler.com piece on the bond market! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...
Reposted by david i. backer
Ohio, continuing to work hard to ensure MAGA control of schools:
Ohio bill would add political parties to school board races, reduce State Board of Education seats • Ohio Capital Journal
The Ohio legislature brought back up a bill that would add party names to local school board elections, and added an amendment that would eliminate elected seats on the State Board of Education, makin...
ohiocapitaljournal.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Ohio, continuing to work hard to ensure MAGA control of schools:
Reposted by david i. backer
ED has never considered these degrees to be professional, instead relying on a tiny list put together decades ago (that they barely changed in 2025). It's just that the graduate/professional distinction never really mattered for accessing federal student loans until now.
ICYMI Dept of Education will no longer considers these professional degrees:
Nursing
Public health
Social work
Physician assistant
Occupational therapy
Physical therapy
Audiology
Speech-language pathology
Social work
Counseling & therapy
Health Admin
A smaller health workforce makes us all sicker
Nursing
Public health
Social work
Physician assistant
Occupational therapy
Physical therapy
Audiology
Speech-language pathology
Social work
Counseling & therapy
Health Admin
A smaller health workforce makes us all sicker
November 22, 2025 at 10:29 PM
ED has never considered these degrees to be professional, instead relying on a tiny list put together decades ago (that they barely changed in 2025). It's just that the graduate/professional distinction never really mattered for accessing federal student loans until now.
Reposted by david i. backer
Reposted for Spinoza's birthday
www.unemployednegativity.com/2025/05/logi...
www.unemployednegativity.com/2025/05/logi...
Logic of Alternation: Spinoza’s Prehistory of Ideology (and its Marxist History)
www.unemployednegativity.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Reposted for Spinoza's birthday
www.unemployednegativity.com/2025/05/logi...
www.unemployednegativity.com/2025/05/logi...
Reposted by david i. backer
Laptops in the Long Run: Evidence from the One Laptop per Child Program in Rural Peru www.nber.org/papers/w34495
"no significant effects on academic performance but evidence of negative effects on grade progression....computer access improved students’ computer skills but not cognitive skills"
"no significant effects on academic performance but evidence of negative effects on grade progression....computer access improved students’ computer skills but not cognitive skills"
Laptops in the Long Run: Evidence from the One Laptop per Child Program in Rural Peru
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
November 24, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Laptops in the Long Run: Evidence from the One Laptop per Child Program in Rural Peru www.nber.org/papers/w34495
"no significant effects on academic performance but evidence of negative effects on grade progression....computer access improved students’ computer skills but not cognitive skills"
"no significant effects on academic performance but evidence of negative effects on grade progression....computer access improved students’ computer skills but not cognitive skills"
Reposted by david i. backer
November 23, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by david i. backer
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
"The humanities really are a resource — a confidence for living in our times.” Dean Sara Guyer on the modern utility of humanities degrees
This interview originally appeared on the Division of Arts
bit.ly
November 23, 2025 at 3:38 PM
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
Reposted by david i. backer
My moderating skills were a little rusty, but this event still turned out SO GREAT thanks to @sandynurse.bsky.social & @ngusdorf.bsky.social!!
If you want to learn about how NYC government works (we get deep into the city budget) you absolutely can't miss this event!!
youtu.be/kTZb8XlVJs0
If you want to learn about how NYC government works (we get deep into the city budget) you absolutely can't miss this event!!
youtu.be/kTZb8XlVJs0
Local Power
YouTube video by LPE Project
youtu.be
November 23, 2025 at 7:25 PM
My moderating skills were a little rusty, but this event still turned out SO GREAT thanks to @sandynurse.bsky.social & @ngusdorf.bsky.social!!
If you want to learn about how NYC government works (we get deep into the city budget) you absolutely can't miss this event!!
youtu.be/kTZb8XlVJs0
If you want to learn about how NYC government works (we get deep into the city budget) you absolutely can't miss this event!!
youtu.be/kTZb8XlVJs0
Reposted by david i. backer
Revisiting this, as federal aid that's long been targeted to improve equity may eventually disappear, or be used in ways that erode rather than advance equity (if block granted) www.shankerinstitute.org/blog/cutting...
How Would Cutting Federal Aid to Schools Affect Student Achievement?
A simulation of the impact of eliminating federal aid to schools suggests no student would be left unharmed.
www.shankerinstitute.org
November 21, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Revisiting this, as federal aid that's long been targeted to improve equity may eventually disappear, or be used in ways that erode rather than advance equity (if block granted) www.shankerinstitute.org/blog/cutting...
Reposted by david i. backer
Martijn Konings, Fiscal Dominance? — Sidecar
Trump and the Federal Reserve.
newleftreview.org
November 12, 2025 at 8:38 PM