Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Bruce D. Baker

@schoolfinance101.bsky.social

1.3K followers 480 following 1.1K posts

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/

Videos

Political science 45%

Sociology 22%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Bruce D. Baker @schoolfinance101.bsky.social · 5h

State officials trying to usurp constitutional authority of local boards with regulations that inappropriately favor specific private providers should face even greater public scrutiny!

1 1

Bruce D. Baker @schoolfinance101.bsky.social · 5h

Any local board member who is not willing to stand up for their constitutional authority - and responsibility to citizens, taxpayers and children - should face some hard questions and significant public scrutiny.

Bruce D. Baker @schoolfinance101.bsky.social · 5h

The state cannot simply "regulate" away the (constitutional) oversight authority granted to local boards of education - and force them to hand over control of major capital assets and fund their operations - with preferential treatment granted to specific private providers.

Bruce D. Baker @schoolfinance101.bsky.social · 5h

Local school board members have an obligation to local taxpayers, citizens and children NOT to abrogate their state constitutional responsibilities for oversight of local public schools! instagram.com/p/DPmjmy3Dx4k/ & the state MUST respect this constitutional authority!

ps305miami on Instagram: "At last night’s Miami-Dade County School Board meeting, our Executive Director, Mina Hosseini, questioned whether the Board can sti…"

At last night’s Miami-Dade County School Board meeting, our Executive Director, Mina Hosseini, questioned whether the Board can still fulfill its constitutional duty to the people of Miami-Dade County under the new Schools of Hope rule.The rule allows charter operators to claim public-school facilities—classrooms, cafeterias, and gyms—without Board approval, leaving the district to cover the costs. Schools of Hope will now get paid twice with our tax dollars. The double-dipping isn’t happening inside our schools—it’s happening above them. Now Schools of Hope operators get state funding to run their schools, then use taxpayer dollars to cover their building and services, and still collect private grants on top of that. That’s not school choice—that’s a publicly funded subsidy for private control.Join Us: bit.ly/weare305

instagram.com

1 2 2

Reposted by Bruce D. Baker

Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 5d

Brunch and pod with my pal, @mollyjongfast.bsky.social and me. We dig into the shutdown, the missing jobs report, tariffs, the reality that Trump's CEA can't do arithmetic (or apologize) and all of this econ-madness that's all around us.

Is the Trump Hiding Job Numbers? w/ Justin Wolfers

Economist Justin Wolfers joins Molly Jong-Fast to explore the implications of the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, particularly focusing on its effects on public data dissemination and the broader…

m.youtube.com

4 47 190

Reposted by Christian E. Weller, Bruce D. Baker

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 6d

One of the demands is to freeze tuition. Which will help the rich kids and international students, since they’re the only ones at some of these schools who actually pay the sticker price www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference

www.nytimes.com

14 48 170

Reposted by Bruce D. Baker

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 6d

"Trump's 'compact with universities is just extortion... the future of higher education in America requires that every university reject it."

Very good from UC Berkley law dean Erwin Chemerinsky.

Higher ed leaders should all do so, and donors, unions, anyone with influence should pressure them to.

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion

www.nytimes.com

5 170 510

Bruce D. Baker @schoolfinance101.bsky.social · 8d

The problem is that it's so ridiculous that too many people laugh it off, ignoring both the norms and laws they repeatedly violate.

Reposted by Bruce D. Baker, Greg Linden, Nancy M. Wingfield , and 1 more Bruce D. Baker, Greg Linden, Nancy M. Wingfield, James M. Thomas

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 9d

"Republicans run the entire government but can't keep it open"

That's it. That's the whole story.

James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 9d

Yes. (And still getting "standoff" BS and "who will blink first" and "who will voters blame" from news.)

Trump and MAGA control the *entire* government. It's a simple fact:
- White House
- Senate
- House
- Scotus
- OMB (to the hilt)
- Every regulatory agency

They're in command. It's on them.

OBrienSci @obriensci.bsky.social · 9d

I do not understand why they cannot get the headlines right.

Just follow the gop playbook!

“Repubs control it all! The shutdown is on them!”

As nauseum.

Don’t lead with the nuance.

57 1.5K 4.7K

Reposted by Bruce D. Baker

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, Bruce D. Baker, Stacy D. VanDeveer

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 9d

The Secretary of Defense who only got the job because the president saw him on the teevee is complaining about military leaders who were promoted "for the wrong reasons"

210 1.9K 8.7K

Reposted by Rosemary A. Joyce, Bruce D. Baker, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof @evanbernick.bsky.social · 10d

crazy, how could he get an idea like that www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

KAVANAUGH, J., concurring In any event, the balance of harms and equities in this case tips in favor of the Government. The interests of individuals who are illegally in the country in avoiding being stopped by law enforcement for questioning is ultimately an interest in evading the law. That is not an
especially weighty legal interest.

39 280 900

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Joanna Bryson, Anupam Chander , and 32 more Anne Applebaum, Joanna Bryson, Anupam Chander, Colin F. Camerer, David Lazer, Brendan Nyhan, Scott L. Greer, Jonathan Wolff, Harvey J. Miller, Dustin Mulvaney, Fabián Muniesa, Jacob Montgomery, Bruce D. Baker, Joseph Schafer, Juan Cole, Jonathan Hopkin, Melanie C. Green, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Christine Kooi, Bessma Momani, Aaron Gerow, David Murakami Wood, Kate Starbird, Henry Jones, Nils Zurawski, Woodrow Hartzog, Clayton Littlejohn, Blair Fix, Geneviève Gore, Albin Wagener, Pádua Fernandes, Pepper D. Culpepper, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Farah Mendlesohn, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 12d

Larry Ellison envisions a surveillance state in which techbros rule. '“Citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on,” Ellison said in an hour-long Q&A during Oracle’s Financial Analyst Meeting last week.'

Larry Ellison predicts rise of the modern surveillance state where ‘citizens will be on their best behavior’ | Fortune

Oracle's Larry Ellison believes citizens and police alike will be under constant surveillance of each other.

fortune.com

860 1.5K 2.6K

Reposted by Bruce D. Baker

Jen Jennings @jenjennings.bsky.social · 14d

From MDRC report. They blatantly violating the spirit and letter of charter lottery laws, as Pondiscio also reports on in his book.

1 1 2

Bruce D. Baker @schoolfinance101.bsky.social · 14d

In other words - the presumptive need for Success Academies in this marketplace - is built on an entirely false narrative, which should surprise no one.

1 2 4

Bruce D. Baker @schoolfinance101.bsky.social · 14d

Still, Florida school districts perform better than expected given how much they've been squeezed over time - and Miami-Dade in particular is an efficient producer of outcomes (note - this is what real analysis of efficiency looks like!):

1 2 5

Bruce D. Baker @schoolfinance101.bsky.social · 14d

Per pupil spending - even with additional local effort - is lower now than in 1993 in Miami-Dade

1 1

Bruce D. Baker @schoolfinance101.bsky.social · 14d

Some context - In general, FL schools have suffered relatively inadequate funding - and have seen state support and state effort decline for decades:

1 1

Reposted by Bruce D. Baker

Katie Phang @katiephang.bsky.social · 14d

Shocking new reporting from the Miami Herald: hundreds of detainees MISSING after being detained at Alligator Alcatraz.

I’ve got the latest, incl. the appeals court ruling that makes no sense & the financial blackhole DeSantis has put FL in while chasing Trump’s love.

youtu.be/5hGJuIgIzYw?...

Trump Faces MAJOR DISASTER as Detainees DISAPPEAR

YouTube video by Katie Phang

youtu.be

55 470 1.1K