During the period of time in which students read Bill’s text, they simultaneously (a) learned about philosophy, ethics, and philosophical dilemmas in public education, while (b) reflected on their own ethics, philosophical standings, and experiences. At the end of that section of each course, students were required to synthesize both (a) and (b) by reflecting on issues presented in Bill’s book. I was impressed in every class to hear and read the discourse related to matters I feel are more important than learning classroom management techniques or creative ways to write lesson plans and construct bulletin boards. I heard young, pre-service teachers begin to unmask a lot of the imbedded ideologies inherent in public education. These young educators, most of whom were white, middle-class, females, began to discuss and write about complex issues that affect children and families, from reflecting on their prejudices and fears to being able to see that they, as agents of social change, have the ability to let their voices challenge the power structures that have worked to marginalize minorities while elevating those with ascribed statuses. In so doing, these students began a process which I hope will lead them to taking activist convictions particularly for children.

After they submitted their papers, I presented the “facts” of Bill Ayers’s background, and would occasionally show a documentary about the Weathermen. I then asked them to reflect on Bill as a scholar and educator – in other words, did his “past” refute his credibility to teach and write about education. Overwhelmingly, students found that it did not. The same holds true for me. They observed that Bill’s past experiences must be thought of within the constructs of the time in which he lived, and they generally felt that his life as an activist only improved his credibility as a scholar. I agree.

On of the most significant problems I see in public education today, which we may also generalize to “American” society, is apathy. We live in a technological age of immediacy coupled with one-minute sound-bites as methods of understanding the world around us. Moreover, few of us take the time to celebrate positive changes for children, families, and those who are marginalized, and fail to react when oppressive forces metaphorically “murder” the souls of those same groups. As public educators, we must ethically be activists for the children whose parents have entrusted us to steward and engender with ideals and visions of hope.

It’s not as simple, though, as teachers not caring. Because of the bureaucratic nature that controls schools and classrooms, public school teachers often spend too much time treading water – that is to say being forced to teach to high-stakes tests, complete endless paperwork, and obsess about bureaucratic minutia - all of which successfully removes teachers from ensuring “no child is left behind.”

The current push of some political groups is no different. Instead of focusing on the real problems teachers, students, parents, and administrators face in the daunting task of educating children, these political groups single out an activist, whose life over the past thirty-years has been spent working to make schools places of hope, expecting that the sensationalism of the “headline” will make news. Instead of ensuring that millions of children do not come to school hungry, or working to reduce the annual 2.5 million proven cases of child abuse and neglect in the nation, these political groups would as soon try to make the American public fear Bill Ayers, fear those around him, and find yet another route to damn public educators’ work. Instead of trying to find solutions that work, especially for minority and poor children, these political groups would as soon point fingers of blame and try to persuade Americans that they can tell you who is to blame for our national problems, while never offering solutions that work.