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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

1622 Posts1721 Follower530 Folgt
Derek Gottlieb@derekgottliebphd.com · 23h ago

Me and @schooldaves.bsky.social have a new @budgetcommitteepod.bsky.social episode out. We, like the devil, went down to Georgia to talk about DeKalb County schools and all the wild goings-on there. www.budgetcommittee.show/blog/wonkery...

Wonkery and Bonkery in DeKalb County

We got a request to look into DeKalb County School District in Georgia, a county-wide system of about 92,000 students just east of Atlanta, and it is, to use the technical term, the bonkersest one we’...

budgetcommittee.show

Glassbro@glassbro.bsky.social · 3d ago

Now for a separate issue: funding reform. Fair Funding for Cherry Hill argues that the funding formula inaccurately measures district wealth. They want it to (somehow) consider Median Household Income instead of Aggregate Income. www.70and73.com/news/new-jer...

New Jersey seeks local guidance as it prepares to take state school funding formula 'down to the studs.'

Although New Jersey schools are among the nation's best, deep cracks in the funding foundation need immediate repair, said parents, school leaders, teachers and others at a state Department of

70and73.com

Glassbro@glassbro.bsky.social · 3d ago

According to a group named Fair Funding for Cherry Hill Public Schools, for years the state underfunded us. True. They also argue that, bcs we were underaided for years, we should not lose state aid now even if we're overaided. Not so fast. fairfunding.wixsite.com/fairfundingc...

DanaMPatton@danampatton.bsky.social · 3d ago

Every one of the things mentioned exist in Jersey City public schools, and other SDA districts in New Jersey. I saw a teacher on a tv report mentioning average building age was 60 years, I believe in our city we are approaching a majority of our buildings being 100yo.

Jacobin@jacobinmag.bsky.social · 3d ago

The start of the school year drew attention to disastrously dilapidated classrooms in the Paris suburbs. Rather than listen to students’ complaints, the government has responded with violent repression.

Anna Minsky@aminsky256.bsky.social · 3d ago

The 5Rs is the framework used by the school diversity advisory group. It posits that you can't just address resources, you have to also address relationships, restorative justice, (tchr) representation, and race-enrollment nhttps://steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/school-diversity-advisory-group

Derek Gottlieb@derekgottliebphd.com · 3d ago

@schooldaves.bsky.social and I have a new episode of @budgetcommitteepod.bsky.social dropping on friday, and I’ve been working on a blog post around it. And what Jennifer says here is one side of a malevolent coin. Funding w/o strings on one side, strings w/o funding on the other.

In this process, we're witnessing the birth of a new thing – the unfundable mandate. Education supporters have long criticized state governments for requiring that schools do certain things without providing the resources to do it. That's the classic "unfunded mandate." But now, states are starting to foreclose local avenues for revenue-raising, too – while still requiring schools to deliver an ever-expanding array of services and results. We won't be providing the necessary funding for all that, states seem to be saying. But also, we won't allow you to raise the necessary funding from any other source, either! Good luck with the whole "failing schools" discourse! But back to DeKalb County and its situation specifically.
Jennifer Berkshire@jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 3d ago

I've been a broken record on why school vouchers are turning out to be a real liability for the GOP in Texas (and beyond). Nice to see the NYT pick up on this. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/07/o...

david i. backer@schooldaves.bsky.social · 4d ago

What if you gave income tax exemptions in NYC to any family attending schools that struggle resource wise, if that school is within a half mile of their residence? You make life more affordable for the working class, disincentivize segregating school preferences, and redistribute per pupil state $

Cam Arnzen@camarnzen.bsky.social · last wk.

📢 For all my fellow education politics and policy people: Josh Almes and I now have an @annenberginstitute.bsky.social working paper out detailing our new dataset of school district partisanship for all 13,000+ districts for the 2016, 2020, and 2024 elections. edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1600

A National Measure of School District Partisanship for the 2016 to 2024 Presidential Elections

Scholars increasingly interested in the governance of local school districts, which invites curiosity about the partisanship of their voting constituencies. Presently, researchers have to translate pr...

edworkingpapers.com

david i. backer@schooldaves.bsky.social · last wk.

Fascinating to listen to this ep of the integrated schools podcast, which I assigned to my education law class *before* the NHJ article. Provides the perspective that when it comes to racism and schools, there's no good choices in our system. integratedschools.org/podcast/s7e1...

S7E14 - Unpacking the Racial Hierarchy in School Choices - Integrated Schools

A professor of sociology at UT Austin, Dr Chantal Hailey studies how micro decision-making contributes to larger macro segregation patterns and how racism creates, sustains, and exacerbates racial, ed...

integratedschools.org

david i. backer@schooldaves.bsky.social · 2w ago

Whenever the GAO puts out a report on school facilities it's an important day, there's precious few national reports. This one found that 1 in 5 schools had to cancel classes due to poor facilities, impacting 2 million students in 2024-25. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

U.S. GAO - K-12 Education: Facility Issues Led About One in Five Districts to Cancel School in 2024-25, Affecting 2 Million Students

Many public school facilities are outdated or poorly maintained. Facility issues, including plumbing leaks and extreme indoor temperatures, can...

gao.gov

david i. backer@schooldaves.bsky.social · 2w ago

Imagine a socialist—or god even a centrist—had a fucking trifecta in the federal government and treasury yields went up to 5.2%, Brent crude was $108, avg mortgage rate north of 7%, with inflation ticking up? We’d have a gd nightmare from the fascists. But with a fascists in charge? A shrug.