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Bruce D. Baker

@schoolfinance101.bsky.social

Professor, Education Finance & Policy Personal Website: https://schoolfinance101.com School Finance Indicators Database: https://www.schoolfinancedata.org/ Books: https://hep.gse.harvard.edu/author/bruce-d-baker/

1,347 Followers  |  502 Following  |  1,388 Posts  |  Joined: 07.11.2024
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Posts by Bruce D. Baker (@schoolfinance101.bsky.social)

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'One year of failure.' The Lancet slams RFK Jr.'s first year as health chief In a scathing review, the top US medical journal's editorial board warned that the "destruction that Kennedy has wrought in 1 in office might take generations to repair."

www.npr.org/2026/02/28/n...

01.03.2026 15:01 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Financing multiple, disparate education systems requiring duplicative governance, accountability and extraction of public funds by financialization.
Not to mention the multiple, long run downsides of a less educated adult population, especially when it comes to numeracy, math and science.

28.02.2026 21:30 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

So, in the end, the taxpayers can be taking care of those who parents chose not to educate.

28.02.2026 21:28 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

One might argue that we need a new, expanded SCOTUS that will not only roll back Mahmoud, Carson, Espinoza and Zelman, but also revisit Yoder and Pierce. A re-ravelling (un-unravelling), per se, of church-state separation (& limits of free exercise) and new emphasis on the rights of the child.

28.02.2026 16:48 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

These programs have now been around long enough for cohorts of children to have lost entirely, several critical years of schooling, for which damages might reasonably be projected.

28.02.2026 16:28 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

So, my ed law colleagues, lets figure out how to a) identify a class of children in an unregulated voucher state, who have b) been deprived of education due to "parental empowerment" and c) frame the causes of action (against the state, for its responsibility) on behalf of these kids.

28.02.2026 16:28 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Yes, the total lack of transparency of these programs and absurd, self-indulgent, parental expenditures of taxpayer dollars are eye catching. But the reason this matters is that children, with no choice in the matter, are being deprived of education (outright deprived) to their lifelong detriment.

28.02.2026 13:33 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

One huge problem here is that the child, or children who were deprived of education (because this is how the money was spent) have no legal recourse for those damages - quantifiable, life long damages due to deprivation of education. All in the name of "parent empowerment"

28.02.2026 13:28 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Purchases from one Arizona ESA user, obtained by Craig Harris at Arizona 12 News

Purchases from one Arizona ESA user, obtained by Craig Harris at Arizona 12 News

What makes the data recently obtained by AZ 12 News’ Craig Harris a new chapter in the ESA debate is the presence of unique IDs. Earlier data allowed statements about overall purchases; now you can see the set tied to a single account.

This account holder bought estrogen, progesterone & a pool.

28.02.2026 12:35 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 5
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Do Black electoral victories shift racial bias? Evidence from close elections Do Black electoral victories affect the degree of racial bias among White Americans? This paper examines changes in explicit racial attitudes and Impl…

"Anti-Black bias among White respondents increases following narrow victories by Black candidates, relative to close losses." www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

27.02.2026 12:17 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

It's (long past) time for blue states that send more in federal taxes than they receive back in federal aid to craft legislation to keep that money in state. No more blue state charity to red states if this is the game being played.

27.02.2026 13:29 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Prosecute.

25.02.2026 20:36 β€” πŸ‘ 378    πŸ” 57    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 0

We've been using AI (Neural Nets) to predict number patterns and sequences for decades (sometimes accurately, many times not). The average person isn't very good with numbers (in that way). Predicting word sequences "seems" more "human" but it's not! Same shit, different application.

26.02.2026 13:17 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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No child should be kicked off their team and deemed an outcast by their government just because of who they are. Like Kara Young said β€” freedom isn’t just possible, it’s necessary.

Learn more about our work defending trans student athletes at aclu.org/morethanagame-bpj

25.02.2026 18:41 β€” πŸ‘ 271    πŸ” 62    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2
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Credit Where Credit's Due Dept.-
The nickname "Presidementia" is from the JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! NO KINGS PROTEST SIGN NICKNAME GUIDE. Many thanks to @jimmykimmellive.bsky.social & his writers! Save this chart for the upcoming NO KINGS DAY on March 28 next month. What's YOUR favorite nickname?
#PedoPrez

25.02.2026 18:44 β€” πŸ‘ 4540    πŸ” 1313    πŸ’¬ 451    πŸ“Œ 108
Idiocracy: Brawndo Has What Plants Crave!
YouTube video by The Liquid People's Temple Idiocracy: Brawndo Has What Plants Crave!

Is AI (LLMs) our Idiocracy's Brawndo? www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAqI...

25.02.2026 16:01 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Predicting word sequences, no matter how complex, including computer code, is neither "thinking" nor "intelligence." It's simply language/word sequence, code sequence prediction. Useful at times and in many specialized cases. But let's drop the hype.

25.02.2026 15:30 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

The thing is, what they "made" was a tech tool that grabs content/text/substance created by others-humans (without compensation), puts it in a large info-blender, that sucks massive amounts of energy (at others' expense), to churn out an unsavory, unsatisfying yet predictable (literally) smoothie.

25.02.2026 15:27 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

This is a helpful read if you want to understand the ridiculousness of what is being asked of teachers.

25.02.2026 14:03 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Imagine telling kids: Listen, rich people made this somewhat crappy product they're going to make you use when you end up having to work for them, so we have to teach you how to try to use it and that's a lot of work for both of us because it's pretty crappy.

That's called "AI literacy."

25.02.2026 13:15 β€” πŸ‘ 264    πŸ” 62    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 2
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A professor challenged the Smithsonian. Security shut the gallery. As President Donald Trump seeks to reshape museums and other cultural institutions, historian James Millward has been β€œguerrilla teaching” visitors about changes that have been made.

You can't erase history. Bravo James Millward wapo.st/4kT0GVX

25.02.2026 13:48 β€” πŸ‘ 387    πŸ” 96    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 5

If you happen to be a center-leftish person who approaches immigration policy right now from a "ok, ok, but let's try to meet in the middle, have a Very Serious and Reasonable Conversation about enforcement," THIS IS WHO AND WHAT YOU'RE REASONING WITH.

25.02.2026 14:01 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Definitely LCFF investment - whatever its shortcomings. A

24.02.2026 17:21 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

but, playing to their base (and sadly, nearly 1/3 of the US population seems to be fully on board with that).

24.02.2026 15:12 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Meet Your Attorney General, Pam Bondi [SUBSCRIBER-ONLY] | 5-4 Get more from 5-4 on Patreon

Was she assembled in a lab by the Heritage Foundation? Summoned from beyond the veil by a MAGA demonologist? Or is she simply an emergent feature of Florida’s political swamp?

In this week’s premium episode, meet your very angry Attorney General, Pam Bondi.Β 

www.patreon.com/posts/151512...?

24.02.2026 14:51 β€” πŸ‘ 151    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 1

Don't kidnap kids. Don't support people who do.

24.02.2026 14:38 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Meanwhile, Californians have continued to help pay for that large sucking sound states like FL impose on Federal Aid:

24.02.2026 14:36 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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A few new slides - While FL continues to nosedive on student achievement, CA has mitigated losses, and moved passed FL (and these effects tend to be lagged - more so for cumulative effects of school quality picked up in 8th grade assessment)

24.02.2026 14:21 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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A few new slides - and why the future is brighter in California than in Florida - diverging approaches on education investment (not to mention ideological bs in FL)

24.02.2026 14:19 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

"ICE agents are the equivalent of cartel hitmen" is a wild take, but Mike Lee is here for it.

23.02.2026 00:58 β€” πŸ‘ 4490    πŸ” 806    πŸ’¬ 123    πŸ“Œ 17