Banking Methods: Education Finance for Radical Teachers

What do advocates for educational justice need to know about school financing? What's the relationship between the critical pedagogy and the budget sheets that get passed around at school board meetings? What kinds of community organizing do we need to change how school financing works?

In this episode, we welcome writer and organizer David I. Backer to discuss these questions and more. David is best known for his substack, Schooling in Socialist America, a public project in which he investigates (and educates his readers about) the ins and outs of school finance policy, with an emphasis on the politics of racial capitalism, climate change, and infrastructure. His forthcoming book, As Public as Possible: Radical Finance for America's Schools (The New Press, 2025), is a deep dive into these issues--and a positive vision of what can change.

David has also published two other books. The first, Elements of Discussion, is a "practical-poetic" reflection emerging from his PhD dissertation on pedagogical theories of discussion. The second, Althusser and Education was praised by a reviewer as “the most comprehensive and nuanced reading of Althusser’s thinking in the English language.”

Currently, David is an Associate Professor of Education Policy at Seton Hall University.

Links to recommended stuff!

WPRB - Princeton Public Radio (great music)

China Mieville, The Scar (book)

The Debt Collective (organizing collective)

Nick Doox, The N-Word of God (book)

Democracy Now daily podcast

Behind the News with Doug Henwood (podcast)

Beef and Dairy Network (podcast)

EMEL (musician)

Mustafa (musician)

Astrid Sonne (musician)

Episode Credits:

Co-hosts and co-producers: Lucia Hulsether and Tina Pippin

Editing and Production Manager: Aliyah Harris

Intro Music: Lance Haugen and the Flying Penguins

Outro Music: Akrasis