As a big Libby user I’m pretty stoked there are three ppl waiting for my book at the BPL.

“Most directly, we should not waste children’s time. The motivation for making school more rewarding and less stultifying should not primarily be its effect on outcomes later in life, but rather that childhood is itself part of life, a very important part.”

During Zohran’s speech you might have heard an air horn going off—I did, it was annoying but not that bad— apparently that was a small group of Zionist protesters.

Happy to be on this list!!

Gonna make a bunch of teachers mad but I guess the political calculus is that local control is too tough a fight or it benefits the people when the people’s candidate is in charge

They’re turning a third of the Netherlands’ pension system to “defined contribution,” which in my book I call “defined isolation” because it’s the opposite of solidarity. So it’s a bit rich that the official says they’re trying to keep some solidarity.

Samuels also has experience merging schools, a task that is often complex and controversial.

The reason this Harvard history professor decided he was done with one of the best and most privileged jobs in the world was, in his own words, because he was forced to lecture in a mask during peak Covid. I’m not making this up.

“In the case of subprime specifically, racialized norms of housing consumption are a dimension of the uneven distribution of the value of labor power.” www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

This looks like an awesome course law.ucla.edu/academics/cu...

I don’t know how Chinese local govt debt works, but it’s increasing. Apparently they securitize stuff and sell the securities for liquidity.

It has been a bracing moment for American federalism, with both unprecedented efforts to extend executive control over state and local govts, novel forms of subnational resistance. Where is federalism going? Paul Nolette and I have edited a new issue of Publius on that question. Short thread:

We are joined by David I. Backer, associate professor of education policy at Seton Hall University, to discuss his new book: As Public as Possible: Radical Finance for America’s Schools (The New Press, 2025). moneyontheleft.org/2025/12/01/r...

grateful to @schooldaves.bsky.social for reposting this right when I sat down at the laptop. I’m finishing an educational “policy review” of the first year of Trump II, and I have to make some recommendations for LEAs/SEAs—which come down to avoiding capture. Even for ppl aligned with admin goals:

“the only way to make American schooling as equal as possible is to make it as public as possible: Pool the taxes, the funding, the administration, the risks―and keep schools, teachers, and students far away from capture by private interests or discipline by private financial markets.” Hell yes.

Who wants a monster pine cone massage by a guy in a hat at the Mermaid Spa in Brooklyn?

You’ll never guess who’s number one

They’re not perfect, but golly, public universities are one of the best engines of economic mobility we have

New @barbarabiasi.com just dropped! Looks like a banger! www.nber.org/papers/w34590

What’s happening in Yelm, WA www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8yAb7VC/

Sliding in to offer folks have been poking around this for a while and it hits upon a bunch of different stuff and at its core, it's schoolmen phenomenon AKA the old boys club in education. Which is to say, happy to hitch my wagon to that train. www.google.com/books/editio...

This sounds like a research project, and I am IN.

I do wonder what the total public expenditure is on parasitic grifters is, not just in education but public coffers more generally.

SCANLON: For many young people, “education has become a liability. .. Early career roles have eroded.” Homeownership “hasn’t budged.” “.. prediction markets, sports betting and cryptocurrency start to look like some of the only levers they have left.” @kyla.bsky.social www.wsj.com/personal-fin...

David Brooks's history of blaring his sexism through his writing is long. Here's a 20-year-old piece my students used to tear to shreds wherein he blames teachers (aka women) for teaching womanly books to boys and so turning them off reading and school generally. Oh, and supports Larry Summers.

Not AI.

I saw a school bus with a Subway ad on it. That's a first, but budgets are tight.

I’ll be the guest speaker at Public School Strong’s next organizing meeting in January, check it out www.mobilize.us/raceforward/...

Thinking of Thea Hunter today www.theatlantic.com/education/ar...

🫡 thanks for writing!

Why is it that big private banks can take in billions in interest payments from the Fed on their reserves, while it refuses to provide any money for public school districts? JP Morgan made $15bn in 2024 alone! Meanwhile, schools pay 8-10% of their budgets on debt service.

Ursinus College in PA, where I’ve colleagues, is laying off a quarter of their faculty. Subscribe to this pod to support one of them! ordinaryunhappiness.com/posts/higher...

@schooldaves.bsky.social did a book talk for a bunch of public school teachers wrestling with questions of public finance and schools here in NYC, one I’m sad I missed. Figured worth mentioning here since I think it speaks to the nature of his commitment to this work! Excited to read for myself.

My dad liked this review lol, but he said the critique of my style wasn’t quite right and I think I agree? I def use a bloggy-talky voice that wanders all over the place, which, when juxtaposed with finance policy, can be jarring. Advait’s point about frameworks is the best critique imho.

The climate crisis & cost of living crisis are deeply intertwined. Donate $5 to CCI today to help us reach our goal of $10,000 by Dec 31 and fuel climate policy that materially benefits the working class. secure.actblue.com/donate/clima...

✨ New Transcript! ✨ Check out our freshly published transcript from our recent interview with @schooldaves.bsky.social. moneyontheleft.org/2025/12/01/r...

The NYC Policy Forum is new initiative that seeks to build—through convenings, research, and publications—a network of committed experts with the vision & policy know-how necessary to deliver on the widespread demand for a more affordable NYC! Details 👇 nycpolicyforum.substack.com/p/introducin...

ugh this. The vendor lock-in is real - i watched my old company pay $200k/year for tools we could've built in-house for a fraction. The recurring revenue model only works for them, not us. Open source alternatives exist for most EdTech SaaS too.

If anyone’s gonna be in Provence next month I’m doing a seminar on my book there as part of a grant to study international comparative school finance. edcapitalism.hypotheses.org/729

“Many colleges rely on short-term credit from lenders to cover the expenses of their week-to-week operations, like making payroll. The size of the New School’s deficit had started to limit its short-term credit, Towers said, hampering its ability to pay for its operations” archive.is/2025.12.13-1...

“If CUNY is successful in developing internally owned-and-operated substitutes for any or all of its Software As A Service (SaaS) contracts with for-profit EdTech firms (and their private equity owners), the development costs will very rapidly pay for themselves”

Concerned fathers here exchanging views on the morality of school vouchers

"Weissman was in her dorm room at Brown when a friend called to warn her that a shooting was under way. Her initial feelings of panic soon turned to anger, she told NBC. “I’m angry that I thought I’d never have to deal with this again, and here I am eight years later,” Weissman told NBC News."

it's so nice to have something good and exciting to read, thank YOU for this!

For anyone wanting to work through the meaning of mass shootings I highly recommend this novel www.firstpersonshooterbook.com

This is a fantastic review that’s able to engage with my book on all the levels: personal, political, financial, socialist. Really grateful to Advait for being a keen reader.

The biggest obstacle to winning a progressive agenda for public school finance is the reactionary politics that lets parents opt out of their schools, their districts, and their taxes. Here’s my review of @schooldaves.bsky.social’s great new book! advaitcore.substack.com/p/the-politi...