I can’t believe I didn’t see where this was going.

Obama.  Ayers.  Annenberg.  Acorn.  Radical.  Sound familiar?

If the debate about Obama and Ayers is whether they share any views, then this is where this is headed.  The idea that some crazies have thrown around that Obama was secretly in on Brinks or some other shit like that is a nonsensical red herring.

This is what it’s really about. 

From Education Week:

Back in April, Sol Stern, a scholar at the Manhattan Institute, wrote this piece on Ayers' ideas on social justice teaching. It's now getting a renewed life; the piece was posted this week on the Web site realclearpolitics, a go-to site for political junkies.  Stern said that no one knows whether Obama agrees with those views.  The next time Obama—the candidate who purports to be our next “education president”—discusses education on the campaign trail, it would be nice to hear what he thinks of his Hyde Park neighbor’s vision for turning the nation’s schools into left-wing indoctrination centers.

A conservative blogger:

And they want to start "educating" our children even earlier in their young lives, with mandatory Pre-K. The sooner they can start teaching them how oppressive their country is. Truly despicable.

Pajamas Media:

And tagging Ayers as an unapologetic left-wing radical is easy. For example, his speech to Hugo Chavez of Venezuela in 2006 explained the importance of education reform: “We share the belief that education is the motor-force of revolution” or “La educacion es revolucion!”.

Red State:

“radicalize students to agitate for change”

Dick Morris:

“conduct programs to radicalize the students and politicize them.  Reading, math and science achievement tests counted for little in the CAC grants, but the school’s success in preaching a radical political agenda determined how much money they got.

WSJ:

The CAC's agenda flowed from Mr. Ayers's educational philosophy, which called for infusing students and their parents with a radical political commitment, and which downplayed achievement tests in favor of activism.

So.  See where this is going?  Let me say, I think Ayers’ activities in the 60s were, and remain, abhorrent.  I don’t think a social agenda is ever best pursued through violence, in fact, I think it undermines it.  Gandhi, King, and Cesar Chavez all led great movements that achieved their goals through nonviolence.  As Chavez put it: "Nonviolence is not inaction. It is not for the timid or the weak. It is hard work, it is the patience to win."  Personally, I find it extremely odd that Ayers was accepted into mainstream Chicago, and while native Chicagoans may find nothing unusual about it, I don’t think most Americans are in agreement with them.  To that extent, defending Ayers’ activities in the 60s seems a futile exercise in my mind.  That said, the educational reforms he advocates, I agree with.  And let’s be clear: he was most certainly not the first person, nor the last, to discuss the ideas of social justice in education.  Notable educational theorists as Dewey and Freire discussed it, Dewey as far back as 1916. 

And the history of teaching this way, and addressing social justice, has much deeper roots than even that.  It is an essential tenet of Catholic teaching.  It is about celebrating humanity, a concern for the poor, and promoting critical reflection. The Jesuits see it as an essential characteristic of Jesuit education: equality of opportunity for all, the principles of distributive and social justice, and the attitude of mind that sees service of others as more self-fulfilling than success or prosperity. Much of it is based on the teachings, as recorded in the New Testament, of Jesus Christ himself.

 And nevermind that the person who donated money to this grant proposed by Ayers was a man who Reagan gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to, nevermind that his wife is touted as a McCain endorsement...

But don’t you see?  What Obama and Ayers are trying to do is turn your kids into a bunch of bomb-throwing terrorists.  Right?

Here’s what this boils down to.  I go to a Jesuit graduate school, and am pursuing a master's in elementary education.  It is undoubtedly the most remarkable educational institution I have had the pleasure of attending.  We speak of complex and important issues.  We consider how to remove our own biases, as much as we can, from what we teach.  We consider the experiences the students bring to the classroom.  We cherish the diversity, and see it as an rich resource, rather than a barrier.  We value not just math and literacy, but science, and history, and the arts, and music, and dance, and culture, and humanitarianism.  Teaching for social justice has nothing to do with indoctrinating students.  It's about giving them the tools to make the world a better place, and deciding for themselves where to use those tools.  If you’d like a better picture of what teaching for social justice looks like?  Well, let me show you.

It’s juniors learning about the United Farm Workers. Seventh and eighth graders advocating for peace.  14-year-olds celebrating the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by exploring rights and abuses in the world.  7-year-olds marching to honor the contribution of MLK and collecting food to feed those in need. It’s students working to understand how our democracy works. It’s fifth-graders registering voters, when they're not yet old enough to vote themselves. Elementary students raising money to send care packages to the troops.  13-year-olds writing letters to advocate against child labor.  It's kids raising money, one penny at a time, to help build schools in rural areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Fourth graders studying how to help with water conservation.  Fifth graders writing letters to our soldiers overseas to thank them.

It's Logan Williams fifth grade class .  They call themselves, the "Mill Run Poets for Peace."  149 young children, who through the power of their written word, expressed a better understanding of a situation in a far-off place, better than many adults could.  149 children, whose words are working to build schools for children their own age, in a place over 6,000 miles from them. So.  Indoctrination?  Tell it to the Poets for Peace.  Tell it to the kids who think they can change the world now.