David I Backer
Biographic Data
| ID | 4149769 |
|---|---|
| NAME | David I Backer |
| GIVEN NAMES | David I |
| FAMILY NAME | Backer |
| SIGNATURE | BACKER D I |
| AFFILIATIONS | Education Policy, West Chester University, West Chester, PA, USA |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0871-8899 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 22 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 9 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
The pedagogics of language learning policy
Toxic finance
Public school districts in the United States borrow over a trillion dollars for their facilities each year from the municipal bond market, yet more than half of these school buildings need significant repair. In this paper, we examine the relationship between a single school district infamous for its infrastructure needs, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), and municipal bond market lending practices. Using a critical school finance framew…
Critical issues in school finance and privatisation
Critical School Finance
In this paper, we put forth a framework called Critical School Finance, articulating the framework itself and then applying it to school facilities finance. First, we go back to first principles and discuss what 'critical' denotes, revisiting critical theorist Max Horkheimer's seminal essay 'Traditional vs. Critical Theory.' Second, we offer five central concepts with which a Critical School Finance framework might be composed: inequity/inequalit…
Movements at the fiscal/monetary crossroads
Philadelphia's schools suffer from an astounding $4.5 billion infrastructure backlog, resulting in toxic school buildings that threaten the lives of predominantly low-income, nonwhite students, teachers, staff, and community members. To combat this issue amidst the ongoing climate crisis, movement groups have demanded policies that would both fix Philadelphia's schools and reduce building emissions. During their work, a question regarding financi…
Althusser and Education
Louis Althusser was one of the foremost Marxist philosophers of the 20th century. His thinking laid the groundwork for critical educational theory, yet it is often misunderstood in critical pedagogy and sociology of education. In this open access book, David Backer reexamines Althusser's philosophy of education, presents its flawed reception in critical educational research, and draws out what the philosophy has to offer us today. Correcting the …
Social reproduction theory revisited
Social reproduction theory names at least two distinct traditions, one of which has a long history in educational research. Social reproduction theory in education emerged out of a concern with education’s relationship to capitalist inequalities. By contrast, social reproduction feminism developed out of feminist interventions regarding the role of women’s unpaid care-work in the reproduction of capitalism. In this paper, we suggest that the rene…
Retaking the Test
Data-driven teaching and learning is common sense in education today, and it is common sense that these data should come from standardized tests. Critiques of standardization either make no constructive suggestions for what to use in place of the tests or they call for better, more scientifically rigorous, reliable, and authentic forms of testing. This article aims to critique the underlying logic of testing within neoliberal education by a retur…
The Studious University
It is not uncommon to hear criticisms of the university today. From the right, the university is seen as nothing more than a mere liberal bastion or hotbed for leftist ideological indoctrination. And from the left, the university is considered nothing more than a factory, part and parcel of the military-industrial complex, or a mere puppet of corporate control. The centrality of corporate, neoliberal logics, ideologies of managerialism and excell…
Social reproduction theory revisited
Social reproduction theory names at least two distinct traditions, one of which has a long history in educational research. Social reproduction theory in education emerged out of a concern with education’s relationship to capitalist inequalities. By contrast, social reproduction feminism developed out of feminist interventions regarding the role of women’s unpaid care-work in the reproduction of capitalism. In this paper, we suggest that the rene…
The Studious University
It is not uncommon to hear criticisms of the university today. From the right, the university is seen as nothing more than a mere liberal bastion or hotbed for leftist ideological indoctrination. And from the left, the university is considered nothing more than a factory, part and parcel of the military-industrial complex, or a mere puppet of corporate control. The centrality of corporate, neoliberal logics, ideologies of managerialism and excell…
Retaking the Test
Data-driven teaching and learning is common sense in education today, and it is common sense that these data should come from standardized tests. Critiques of standardization either make no constructive suggestions for what to use in place of the tests or they call for better, more scientifically rigorous, reliable, and authentic forms of testing. This article aims to critique the underlying logic of testing within neoliberal education by a retur…
Movements at the fiscal/monetary crossroads
Philadelphia's schools suffer from an astounding $4.5 billion infrastructure backlog, resulting in toxic school buildings that threaten the lives of predominantly low-income, nonwhite students, teachers, staff, and community members. To combat this issue amidst the ongoing climate crisis, movement groups have demanded policies that would both fix Philadelphia's schools and reduce building emissions. During their work, a question regarding financi…
Toxic finance
Public school districts in the United States borrow over a trillion dollars for their facilities each year from the municipal bond market, yet more than half of these school buildings need significant repair. In this paper, we examine the relationship between a single school district infamous for its infrastructure needs, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), and municipal bond market lending practices. Using a critical school finance framew…
Critical issues in school finance and privatisation
Critical School Finance
In this paper, we put forth a framework called Critical School Finance, articulating the framework itself and then applying it to school facilities finance. First, we go back to first principles and discuss what 'critical' denotes, revisiting critical theorist Max Horkheimer's seminal essay 'Traditional vs. Critical Theory.' Second, we offer five central concepts with which a Critical School Finance framework might be composed: inequity/inequalit…
Retaking the Test
Data-driven teaching and learning is common sense in education today, and it is common sense that these data should come from standardized tests. Critiques of standardization either make no constructive suggestions for what to use in place of the tests or they call for better, more scientifically rigorous, reliable, and authentic forms of testing. This article aims to critique the underlying logic of testing within neoliberal education by a retur…
The Studious University
It is not uncommon to hear criticisms of the university today. From the right, the university is seen as nothing more than a mere liberal bastion or hotbed for leftist ideological indoctrination. And from the left, the university is considered nothing more than a factory, part and parcel of the military-industrial complex, or a mere puppet of corporate control. The centrality of corporate, neoliberal logics, ideologies of managerialism and excell…
Social reproduction theory revisited
Social reproduction theory names at least two distinct traditions, one of which has a long history in educational research. Social reproduction theory in education emerged out of a concern with education’s relationship to capitalist inequalities. By contrast, social reproduction feminism developed out of feminist interventions regarding the role of women’s unpaid care-work in the reproduction of capitalism. In this paper, we suggest that the rene…
Althusser and Education
Louis Althusser was one of the foremost Marxist philosophers of the 20th century. His thinking laid the groundwork for critical educational theory, yet it is often misunderstood in critical pedagogy and sociology of education. In this open access book, David Backer reexamines Althusser's philosophy of education, presents its flawed reception in critical educational research, and draws out what the philosophy has to offer us today. Correcting the …
Movements at the fiscal/monetary crossroads
Philadelphia's schools suffer from an astounding $4.5 billion infrastructure backlog, resulting in toxic school buildings that threaten the lives of predominantly low-income, nonwhite students, teachers, staff, and community members. To combat this issue amidst the ongoing climate crisis, movement groups have demanded policies that would both fix Philadelphia's schools and reduce building emissions. During their work, a question regarding financi…
Toxic finance
Public school districts in the United States borrow over a trillion dollars for their facilities each year from the municipal bond market, yet more than half of these school buildings need significant repair. In this paper, we examine the relationship between a single school district infamous for its infrastructure needs, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), and municipal bond market lending practices. Using a critical school finance framew…
Critical issues in school finance and privatisation
Critical School Finance
In this paper, we put forth a framework called Critical School Finance, articulating the framework itself and then applying it to school facilities finance. First, we go back to first principles and discuss what 'critical' denotes, revisiting critical theorist Max Horkheimer's seminal essay 'Traditional vs. Critical Theory.' Second, we offer five central concepts with which a Critical School Finance framework might be composed: inequity/inequalit…
The pedagogics of language learning policy
Political science (8 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Economics (4 works) · Law (4 works) · Finance (3 works) · Law (3 works) · Politics (3 works) · Social science (3 works) · Critical Race Theory in Education (2 works) · Economic growth (2 works)