At the Wall Street Journal, Sol Stern contends that the real Bill Ayers scandal lies not with his unrepentent domestic terrorism but rather his Marxist school reform ideas. And on some level, that's logical: the Annenberg challenge was an education effort, after all, not a commission to overthrow the United States government. But on pretty much every other level it's complete nonsense, and here's why: there's just very little evidence that the extreme elements of Ayer's education ideology have had much of an impact on anyone with influence, much less Obama.
It would be safe to assume, for example, that if Ayers' ideas were going to gain a foothold anywhere, it would happen in Chicago. He lives there; he's seen as a respectable citizen; the mayor apparently gave him some kind of award, etc., etc. Chicago has a big distressed urban school district that the Secretary of Education once labeled the worst in the country. I imagine the citizens of inner-city Chicago would be more open to arguments about the evils of the global capitalist system than those of, say, Kenilworth or other suburbs on the North Shore.
Yet I don't see Arne Duncan, an Obama friend and the superintendent of Chicago Public Schools, running around quoting Paolo Friere. Instead he hews pretty closely to the policies and ideas that most reformist urban superitendants are adopting these days--ideas that Ayers-ish ed school types tend to hate. Stern says "I've studied Mr. Ayers's work for years and read most of his books." My question is: Why? It would make a lot more sense to look at Joel Klein's bookshelf and figure out who his influences are. I'm pretty sure Bill Ayers won't make the list.
Stern is just using the Ayers affair as a way to re-litigate the culture wars. Thankfully, the people actually running our public schools have more important things to do.
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Duncan may not run around quoting Paolo Friere, and I find the thought of him doing so amusing. But Bill Ayers does, and Bill Ayers has the ear of Arne Duncan as well as many major players in education and politics in Chicago. So your point seems rather dubious. In recent years, CPS has authorized charters for questionable schools like Social Justice High and their latest project, Pride Campus, for gay and gay friendly students and it's hard not to see the hand of Ayers in there somewhere.
Regarding your point about Klein, who is more representative of what goes on in public education, education schools, etc? Klein or Ayers? Ayers serves a prestigious role in THE association for education professionals. Klein is an embattled chancellor of schools for a single district (which also happens to be the largest in the country, but still). Who do you think has more influence among the rank and file of education professionals? I don't actually know the answer, but I think your post downplays Ayers's significance too easily.
There's a reason why Ayers is sought out for his fundraising prowess by people like Obama and, apparently, Thomas Franks, and its because he enjoys an enviable degree of support among important people. Your post seemingly argues that Ayers's influence is benign in the world of education. I still disagree and think Sol Stern's points are well taken.
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