Former bomber and unapologetic Marxist revolutionary Bill Ayers will be the keynote speaker at John Goodlad’s NNER 2010 conference in Normal, Illinois in October 2010.
In the 1960s, Ayers was an active member of the Weather Underground, a domestic terrorist group that bombed public buildings in the name of “democracy.” Ayers describes his group as the “militant arm” of Students for a Democratic Society. In his memoir Fugitive Days Ayers said “I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough.” (Yes, that Bill Ayers, the one who hosted a meet-and-greet for then-candidate Barack Obama. But I digress.)
What is Bill Ayers doing at a conference where educational reformers speak on such topics as “nurturing”, “democracy” and “moral dimensions?” Goodlad and Ayers are both social-progressive organizers, working hard to advance their vision of social democracy by “Enculturating the Young” in our public schools. They hold a similar antipathy toward parents, and believe that morals are not absolute and should be “defined by the community.” Both count John Dewey (atheist signer of the Humanist Manifesto) as a source of their inspiration.
Alpine School District in Utah County, Utah, is a Goodlad “partner district” with close ties to Goodlad. District superintendent Vern Henshaw is a former executive board member of Goodlad’s organization, NNER. It is unknown at this time if Henshaw will be speaking with Ayers at NNER 2010.
I noticed that your link for “keynote speaker” above wasn’t working (perhaps this was just on my computer), but I did find another link that verifies that Bill Ayers is, in fact, a keynote speaker at the 2010 NNER Conference. Thanks for all your great info and work Susan!
http://www.ed.sc.edu/nner/default.asp
Liz, thanks, the “keynote speaker” link is now updated.
merely have to point out you help make several good points and will post a variety of creative ideas to add on shortly after a day or two.