The First National Academic Freedom Conference
By Sara Dogan
FrontPageMagazine.com
April 11, 2006

On April 6-7, 2006, Students for Academic Freedom held its First National Academic Freedom Conference at the Washington Court Hotel in Washington, DC. The conference featured detailed discussion on the indoctrination that is occurring in America’s K-12 schools and the politicization of American universities. A panel which served as a press conference featured the announcement by Pennsylvania Representative Sam Rohrer that he is going to initiate a process of legislative hearings that could lead to an Academic Bill of Rights for K-12 schools in his state. Representative Rohrer is the chairman of the subcommittee on K-12 education of the Pennsylvania House.

Rohrer’s action of behalf of K-12 education was prefaced by a presentation by Sol Stern, a Manhattan Institute senior fellow and author of the book Breaking Free: Public School Lessons and the Imperative of School Choice. Stern detailed the many ways in which a political agenda is inserted into K-12 curricula and teacher’s education programs, including in the naming of public schools after Communists and terrorists. One elementary school in Harlem for example is named after Don Pedro Albizu Campus, a Puerto Rican terrorist who directed two of his followers in an assassination attempt on President Harry Truman (one policeman and one terrorist were killed in the assault) and Powell Middle School in Harlem named for former congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. who was found guilty by the U.S. Congress of misappropriation of funds and other illegal activities. the rest