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
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As Public As Possible: Radical Finance for America's Public Schools | David Backer
Education expert David I. Backer argues for radically expanding the "public" in public schools. Discover a concrete set of policies to provide a truly public education for all, regardless of wealth an...
www.aspublicaspossiblebook.com
my book is officially out! you can get it here! www.aspublicaspossiblebook.com
This is tomorrow! If you’re in NYC come out to see me and Celina Su talk budget justice and radical finance. 6:30pm at the CUNY Graduate Center.
December 9, 2025 at 1:35 PM
This is tomorrow! If you’re in NYC come out to see me and Celina Su talk budget justice and radical finance. 6:30pm at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Damn: “Two thirds of for-profit certificate programs have worse [earning] outcomes than a high school degree”
December 9, 2025 at 3:11 AM
Damn: “Two thirds of for-profit certificate programs have worse [earning] outcomes than a high school degree”
Reposted by david i. backer
The Department of Education shared data today on IHEs where, 4 years after earning a credential, graduates earned less than peers with only a high school diploma.
What ED didn't shout out was just how many of those institutions are for-profits. So I got the data. jamessmurphy.com/2025/12/09/w...
What ED didn't shout out was just how many of those institutions are for-profits. So I got the data. jamessmurphy.com/2025/12/09/w...
FAFSA Reveals Earnings Data for Colleges and Graduates
The Department of Education's new FAFSA changes highlight the alarming number of for-profit institutions where graduates earn less than high school completers.
jamessmurphy.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:42 AM
The Department of Education shared data today on IHEs where, 4 years after earning a credential, graduates earned less than peers with only a high school diploma.
What ED didn't shout out was just how many of those institutions are for-profits. So I got the data. jamessmurphy.com/2025/12/09/w...
What ED didn't shout out was just how many of those institutions are for-profits. So I got the data. jamessmurphy.com/2025/12/09/w...
Reposted by david i. backer
i do not regret to inform you that we are going to win
♥️ “ICE looked at that school, saw a community standing up for families, and decided it wasn’t worth it.”
December 9, 2025 at 2:50 AM
i do not regret to inform you that we are going to win
Reposted by david i. backer
The article detailing the history is posted below. (He was actually one of fifteen votes against, but they were outnumbered 119 to 15.) In an amusing followup, the dissenter later became the head carpenter on the reconstruction, and the project saved his personal finances.
This meme has a wild school finance history: this guy’s name is Jim and he’s voting against the town of Arlington, VT selling a school bond to rebuild their local school in 1940. The building had burned down, but Jim didn’t want to pay more taxes. He was the only one voting no.
December 8, 2025 at 7:59 PM
The article detailing the history is posted below. (He was actually one of fifteen votes against, but they were outnumbered 119 to 15.) In an amusing followup, the dissenter later became the head carpenter on the reconstruction, and the project saved his personal finances.
Reposted by david i. backer
My dad worked on the line of a car plant and only had a HS eduction. But he voted for every school levy because he wanted my sister and I and all the kids in our little town to have the opportunity to go as far as talent could take us. Now he's MAGA and I don't get it.
December 8, 2025 at 8:12 PM
My dad worked on the line of a car plant and only had a HS eduction. But he voted for every school levy because he wanted my sister and I and all the kids in our little town to have the opportunity to go as far as talent could take us. Now he's MAGA and I don't get it.
Super cool to talk with Geoff of the Trade Movies podcast about my book, public finance, and philosophy—all though the lens of two films we recommended to each other. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Trade Movies #024 - Hypernormalisation (2016) & The Saragossa Manuscript (1965) with David Backer
Podcast Episode · Trade Movies · 12/08/2025 · 1h 34m
podcasts.apple.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Super cool to talk with Geoff of the Trade Movies podcast about my book, public finance, and philosophy—all though the lens of two films we recommended to each other. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Reposted by david i. backer
It hearkens back to a golden age when there was only one guy who didn't want to rebuild the school
This meme has a wild school finance history: this guy’s name is Jim and he’s voting against the town of Arlington, VT selling a school bond to rebuild their local school in 1940. The building had burned down, but Jim didn’t want to pay more taxes. He was the only one voting no.
December 8, 2025 at 5:55 PM
It hearkens back to a golden age when there was only one guy who didn't want to rebuild the school
Reposted by david i. backer
We get there when we have the power to take money from rich people to pay for teaching and research. We get partway there at the state level, going back to postwar taxation levels for millionaires like MA. But ultimately we must force the federal question.
Join @aaup.org or watch our schools die.
Join @aaup.org or watch our schools die.
Ready to start a movement that argues universities should spend money on their core functions, rather than flashy nonsense. Such as teaching and research for example.
December 8, 2025 at 3:40 PM
We get there when we have the power to take money from rich people to pay for teaching and research. We get partway there at the state level, going back to postwar taxation levels for millionaires like MA. But ultimately we must force the federal question.
Join @aaup.org or watch our schools die.
Join @aaup.org or watch our schools die.
Reposted by david i. backer
Fascinating history here and the comments.
This meme has a wild school finance history: this guy’s name is Jim and he’s voting against the town of Arlington, VT selling a school bond to rebuild their local school in 1940. The building had burned down, but Jim didn’t want to pay more taxes. He was the only one voting no.
December 8, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Fascinating history here and the comments.
Reposted by david i. backer
I was informed the Department of Education was shutting itself down and yet they have been making a dramatic blockbuster-style preview of their new ideological project? youtu.be/bUNVdCduGKg?...
December 8, 2025 at 11:44 AM
I was informed the Department of Education was shutting itself down and yet they have been making a dramatic blockbuster-style preview of their new ideological project? youtu.be/bUNVdCduGKg?...
Reposted by david i. backer
UPDATE: I live in the village next to Arlington, and they still have an elementary school. Our village is smaller, and our school is probably closing next year. Also, the shop with the Norman Rockwell “museum” flies a thin blue line flag. Hot news from Vermont!
December 8, 2025 at 9:02 AM
UPDATE: I live in the village next to Arlington, and they still have an elementary school. Our village is smaller, and our school is probably closing next year. Also, the shop with the Norman Rockwell “museum” flies a thin blue line flag. Hot news from Vermont!
Reposted by david i. backer
I did some sleuthing and I think this man who died in 2022 was the son of the James Edgerton in this famous painting.
www.benningtonbanner.com/local-news/j...
www.benningtonbanner.com/local-news/j...
December 8, 2025 at 4:01 AM
I did some sleuthing and I think this man who died in 2022 was the son of the James Edgerton in this famous painting.
www.benningtonbanner.com/local-news/j...
www.benningtonbanner.com/local-news/j...
my book is officially out! you can get it here! www.aspublicaspossiblebook.com
As Public As Possible: Radical Finance for America's Public Schools | David Backer
Education expert David I. Backer argues for radically expanding the "public" in public schools. Discover a concrete set of policies to provide a truly public education for all, regardless of wealth an...
www.aspublicaspossiblebook.com
December 8, 2025 at 1:43 AM
my book is officially out! you can get it here! www.aspublicaspossiblebook.com
Reposted by david i. backer
Interesting! I always see this pic and didn’t know the story. Thanks for sharing.
December 8, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Interesting! I always see this pic and didn’t know the story. Thanks for sharing.
Reposted by david i. backer
This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of and I'm mad that my 11yo is excited about the prospect of being one of the top 7 kids who answer a 40 question test about a book to join the Battle of the Books team.
Kids can't just have a Book Club? They have to turn it into a competition?
Kids can't just have a Book Club? They have to turn it into a competition?
December 8, 2025 at 12:07 AM
This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of and I'm mad that my 11yo is excited about the prospect of being one of the top 7 kids who answer a 40 question test about a book to join the Battle of the Books team.
Kids can't just have a Book Club? They have to turn it into a competition?
Kids can't just have a Book Club? They have to turn it into a competition?
Most engagement I’ve ever gotten on here lol
This meme has a wild school finance history: this guy’s name is Jim and he’s voting against the town of Arlington, VT selling a school bond to rebuild their local school in 1940. The building had burned down, but Jim didn’t want to pay more taxes. He was the only one voting no.
December 8, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Most engagement I’ve ever gotten on here lol
Reposted by david i. backer
The original “fuck them kids”
December 7, 2025 at 9:25 PM
The original “fuck them kids”
Reposted by david i. backer
:>o
This meme has a wild school finance history: this guy’s name is Jim and he’s voting against the town of Arlington, VT selling a school bond to rebuild their local school in 1940. The building had burned down, but Jim didn’t want to pay more taxes. He was the only one voting no.
December 7, 2025 at 8:34 PM
:>o
This meme has a wild school finance history: this guy’s name is Jim and he’s voting against the town of Arlington, VT selling a school bond to rebuild their local school in 1940. The building had burned down, but Jim didn’t want to pay more taxes. He was the only one voting no.
December 7, 2025 at 7:24 PM
This meme has a wild school finance history: this guy’s name is Jim and he’s voting against the town of Arlington, VT selling a school bond to rebuild their local school in 1940. The building had burned down, but Jim didn’t want to pay more taxes. He was the only one voting no.
Reposted by david i. backer
Speaking as a private citizen on a matter of public concern, yes leadership is apparently planning to cut 50% of the faculty at the New School for Social Research in order to eliminate social research and replace scholarship with a trendy MA degree mill For the 21st Century 1/
December 6, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Speaking as a private citizen on a matter of public concern, yes leadership is apparently planning to cut 50% of the faculty at the New School for Social Research in order to eliminate social research and replace scholarship with a trendy MA degree mill For the 21st Century 1/
“The last applicant I spoke with said he didn’t care much about the politics of ICE — he just thought his taxes shouldn’t be used to buy school supplies for “illegal alien children.” www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/pol...
Two Days Talking to People Looking for Jobs at ICE | Yanis Varoufuckice
Naturally there were lots of law enforcement types hanging around the convention — men with military fades, moisture-wicking shirts, and tattoos of the Bible and the Constitution and eagles and flags ...
www.nplusonemag.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:51 PM
“The last applicant I spoke with said he didn’t care much about the politics of ICE — he just thought his taxes shouldn’t be used to buy school supplies for “illegal alien children.” www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/pol...
I can’t believe Asad Haider passed away, I’m in shock. He was a friend, helped me think through Althusser and many other knots of theory, spent good times in Philly together.
December 6, 2025 at 12:42 AM
I can’t believe Asad Haider passed away, I’m in shock. He was a friend, helped me think through Althusser and many other knots of theory, spent good times in Philly together.
Reposted by david i. backer
SO STOKED that this came in the mail today!! Looking forward to learning more about pulling public financing back TO THE PEOPLE ✊🏼
@schooldaves.bsky.social
@schooldaves.bsky.social
December 5, 2025 at 10:24 PM
SO STOKED that this came in the mail today!! Looking forward to learning more about pulling public financing back TO THE PEOPLE ✊🏼
@schooldaves.bsky.social
@schooldaves.bsky.social
Reposted by david i. backer
I hope that you all have heard of one of my all-time fave podcasts, Have You Heard, by journalist @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social and professor @jackschneider.bsky.social --and if not, subscribe today! The latest episode (#209) includes an interview with me about my new report.
#209 Make Education Great Again
The MAGA vision for public education isn’t just to dismantle it. Key parts of the coalition also want to reshape schools along religious and political lines. In this episode we hear from two experts a
soundcloud.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:49 PM
I hope that you all have heard of one of my all-time fave podcasts, Have You Heard, by journalist @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social and professor @jackschneider.bsky.social --and if not, subscribe today! The latest episode (#209) includes an interview with me about my new report.