Sol Stern describes Bill Ayers thusly: "[A]s one of the leaders of a movement for bringing social-justice teaching into our public school classrooms, Mr. Ayers is not a school reformer. He is a school destroyer." Hard to argue with that. Stern, who is writing a book on Ayers and his history in the legacy of public school education, specifically his influence on social-justice teaching, recounts the history of Ayers' involvement in Chicago politics and Chicago schools in yesterday's Wall Street Journal. He's "not just a guy in the neighborhood," asserts Stern; Ayers "still hopes for a revolutionary upheaval that will finally bring down American capitalism and imperialism, but this time around Mr. Ayers sows the seeds of resistance and rebellion in America's future teachers." In short, Ayers uses his position as a professor of education at the University of Illinois to inculcate his students with the notion that they are revolutionaries sent to the schools to brainwash students. This is destructive, indeed.??
Stern's conclusion?
If Barack Obama wins on Nov. 4, the "guy in the neighborhood" is not likely to get an invitation to the Lincoln bedroom. But with the Democrats controlling all three branches of government, there's a real danger that Mr. Ayers's social-justice movement in the schools will get even more room to maneuver and grow.??
We've written about his outrageous behavior here,??here and here. Diane Ravitch weighs in, too.
