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Articles by David Backer
Pay as You Go
Today, the crossroads of socialism and barbarism meet in cities across America. In New York, Seattle, and Chicago, organizers have seized local and state authority, empowering mayors Zohran Mamdani, Katie Wilson, and Brandon Johnson—and a nonnegligible number of other politicians—to pursue the left project municipally. These local victories, won in the years since 2020, have kicked off a positive feedback loop and inspired yet more socialists to run for office in our time.
Against Dumbocracy and Education
Photo by Taylor Flowe on Unsplash In this time of ascendant US fascism, as we sigh our way through the 250-year anniversary of the country’s bourgeois revolution, democracy and education makes me uneasy. To me, democracy is when everyone affected by a policy has a meaningful share in the deliberation and administration of it.
Reinforcing data pipelines essential to anticipating acute malnutrition crises
Action Against Hunger teaches mothers in rural Kenya to check for malnutrition with a mid-upper arm circumference band. Photo by: Abel Gichuru for Action Against Hunger. Anticipating malnutrition crises to enable more effective prevention and mitigation is a wise investment. This need is widely understood yet not always sufficiently supported in practice. The tools the humanitarian sector relies upon to anticipate and address crises areunder threat at a time of sharp funding cuts.
Opinion: To fix school funding, Chicago must rethink pension investing
Chicago is at a major crossroads. It’s almost unprecedented. To see it, we have to dive into wonky details about the choices facing leaders of Chicago’s municipal governments, specifically pension funds. These choices contain the seeds of a radically new and better political-economic future or a continued slide into the abyss of our current moment. As always, it’s investment or barbarism: Wall Street values or the people’s values.
Philly school buildings are in terrible shape − reliance on the municipal bond market to fund repairs exacerbates the crisis, new analysis finds
Philly school buildings are in terrible shape − reliance on the municipal bond market to fund repairs exacerbates the crisis, new analysis finds
Philly school buildings are in terrible shape − reliance on the municipal bond market to fund repairs exacerbates the crisis, new analysis finds
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) Article continues below this ad Many of Philadelphia’s schools are in terrible shape. The average public school building in the city is over 70 years old, and some are . The state of disrepair, including a lack of air conditioning and incidents of untreated asbestos, mold, crumbling ceilings and flooded hallways, is well documented.
Philly Schools Are in Disrepair − the Municipal Bond Market is 1 Big Reason
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Many of Philadelphia’s schools are in terrible shape. The average public school building in the city is over 70 years old, and some are . The state of disrepair, including a lack of air conditioning and incidents of untreated asbestos, mold, crumbling ceilings and flooded hallways, is well documented. I am a scholar of school finance, with an emphasis on infrastructure.
Philly schools are in disrepair − the municipal bond market is 1 big reason
Written by David I. Backer, Associate Professor of Education Policy, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
Philly schools are in disrepair − the municipal bond market is 1 big reason
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Philly schools are in disrepair − the municipal bond market is 1 big reason
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Critical School Finance
Advanced search Journal of Educational Administration and History Latest Articles Submit an article Journal homepage Full Article Figures & data References Citations Metrics Reprints & Permissions Read this article /doi/full/10.1080/00220620.2024.2357774?needAccess=true ABSTRACT In this paper, we put forth a framework called Critical School Finance, articulating the framework itself and then applying it to school facilities finance.
Labor's Green Capital | Lenore Palladino
Global investment in solar energy has skyrocketed in recent decades: from 1 TWh of solar power in 2000 to 1,284 TWh in 2022. The trend is likely to be magnified in the United States by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which includes a wide array of tax credits and new sources of investment for renewable energy. Much of the investment in solar remains tied to private asset managers with little obligation to operate in line with the public interest.
Modernizing cell therapy manufacturing to reduce vein-to-vein times
Listen to the podcast here, or read the the interview below. If you enjoyed this episode, you can listen to all episodes from The BioInsights Podcast wherever you normally get your podcasts. Follow the Podcast to make sure you don't miss the next episode. Dave, you have been in this field for some time now. How have you seen CAR-T cell therapies evolve? DB: Yes, I have been in cell and gene therapy for over 25 years, almost since the inception of the technology itself.
Helen Gym Has Won Big for Working People
Critics claim that Helen Gym has no track record of tangible accomplishments. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Ideology can work like ocean currents, pulling you in with a force beneath the surface that doesn’t feel like much at first. Maybe you feel a tug here and there, but you don’t think about it much until suddenly you’re under water.
Helen Gym Has Won Big for Working People
“The argument to be waged against Gym is not that she doesn’t believe what she says: it’s that she’s a true believer, a policymaker driven by ideology over data and reason,” the article read. If I’m being honest, I even found myself pulled in by these kinds of centrist currents. Before any of these headlines, when the race was just getting going, I was at dinner with friends when another dinner guest asked if we would support her.
Helen Gym Has Won Big for Working People
Ideology can work like ocean currents, pulling you in with a force beneath the surface that doesn’t feel like much at first. Maybe you feel a tug here and there, but you don’t think about it much until suddenly you’re under water. It’s been like that with the Philadelphia mayoral race, with at least one non-partisan poll showing a statistical tie between at least four leading candidates — and there are several currents pulling voters in different directions.
“He Sold Our Schools off to the Highest Bidder”
Shakeda Gaines, former president of the Philadelphia Home and School Council, remembers when Paul Vallas began his term as superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia in 2002. Vallas “brought in his corporate vultures and his spreadsheets and tried to sell us a bill of goods,” Gaines says.
Building Schools Back Better
Something unexpected happened in Pennsylvania politics recently. A leftist state senator got bi-partisan support from archconservatives in one of the most ideologically divided states in the country. Though the breakthrough didn’t happen in the arena of education policy, I think the story tells us what the defenders of public education can and should do in the face of so much reactionary toxicity from the right. We know the toxin well by now.
Taking a Distinctive Path Reflections on the History of Gene Therapy Development - BioProcess International
For the past 20 years, I’ve been a committed and interested partner to developers of cell and gene therapies (CGTs). I’ve participated in the highs and lows of the industry. Initially, we looked to the development of monoclonal antibody (MAb) therapeutics for a roadmap to anticipate what would occur in the CGT field.
The Nightmare Ouroboros of School Shootings and the Educational Bond Market
Police in Uvalde, Texas, have falsely blamed a teacher for not properly shutting a door through which Salvador Ramos entered the school with an assault rifle, killing 19 children and two teachers. In fact, the teacher shut the door, but did not realize it could only be locked from the outside; it also turns out the door to the classroom the shooter entered was unlocked.
Toxic Finance - Dissent Magazine
Toxic Finance The spread of COVID-19 in classrooms has revealed an infrastructure problem made worse by the way the United States finances improvements to school buildings. David I. Backer ▪ February 16, 2022 In Oakland, California, students threatened to walk out of class unless school leaders provided masks, weekly PCR tests, and more space to eat outdoors. In Saint Paul, Minnesota, students organized for virtual learning options.
Coffee with Scott Adams November 20, 2021
Live Stream ended Rittenhouse verdict Now I know what that big energy shift was all about . 00:30:31 250 95 Live Stream ended Coffee with Scott Adams November 19, 2021 Joe Biden gets a colonoscopy today so doctors can study his brain and whatnot. 01:01:08 113 31 Live Stream ended Coffee with Scott Adams November 18, 2021 I am done standing for the national anthem at least until my government stops hunting citizens. And don’t get me started on China. OK I will get started on China.
Which Wars Lead to Hunger (and Which Do Not)?
Guest post by Peter White, Brandon Ives, Paul Huth, and David Backer, with Action Against Hunger Famine is increasingly likely in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, which has been embroiled in armed conflict between the regional government and the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments since November 2020.
On Critique - Luc Boltanski
[Polity; 2011] It doesn’t seem controversial to say that there are a variety of things wrong with society. The questions for sociologist-philosophers like Luc Boltanski are: Why? How? Whence this monstrosity we call social and political existence? How do we study it and make it better? That’s what Boltanski’s most recent book On Critique: A Sociology of Emancipation is all about. As a contribution to the academic and intellectual tradition participating in this frustrating discussion, it’s stellar.
The Game Metaphor: How To Teach Racists That There Is No Such Thing As Reverse Racism
It is difficult to guide the racially unknowing, ignorant, and fragile (read: most white people) to an understanding of these ideas, so explanations rejecting reverse racism fall short. I came up with a metaphor to do this. I call it the game metaphor.
Philly schools are in disrepair − the municipal bond market is 1 big reason
Fujitsu and Upstream Security Partner for Vehicle … TOKYO, Jan 16, 2020 - (JCN Newswire) - Fujitsu Limited and Upstream Security Ltd., cutting-edge security solution provider for connected vehicles, today announced a partnership for vehicle … The China (Chongqing)-Singapore Connectivity Initi… SINGAPORE, Nov.
Meeting Needs
Young artist from New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia. Courtesy of Philly Childcare Collective. Juan points to the cardboard box, full now of laughing children, and shouts “Get in the bus! We’re leaving soon!” The box that once stored flyers for an anti-ICE action has been transformed. Maria and Donna have drawn wheels on the side, and fashioned the front with headlights. With three wiggling bodies inside, the box is full to bursting: the tape wrapped around the edges is visibly stretching.
Movement Pedagogy: Beyond the Class/Identity Impasse - Viewpoint Magazine
The left is buzzing. Two themes are emerging as touchstones: first, an excitement that socialist ideas are increasing in popularity; second, an apparent impasse between what’s been called class politics and identity politics. The two themes dance with and around each other, one enlivening and the other threatening.
"Design and Operation of a Feedlot Runoff Treatment System" by David S. Backer
Abstract This study dealt with the design, start up, and initial operation of a pilot plant built to treat feedlot runoff. The plant was evaluated for a) simplicity of construction, b) ease of operation and maintenance, c) cost of operation, d) effectiveness of treatment, and e) comparability to the laboratory unit. Further study is needed to better evaluate the system over a wider range of detention times. Advisor: Terence J. McGhee
Ride This 15-Year Trend With Brookfield Infrastructure Partners
For my first article, I introduced an exciting utility fund that has delivered stellar returns for loyal investors. Today, I'd like to tell you about another play in the excitingly boring utility sector. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP) owns hard assets across the globe that virtually mint cash. Its holdings tends to represent natural monopolies due to large capital requirements, regulatory and political hurdles, geographic saturation, and other competitive advantages.
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