Politics in the Classroom

In her column, Maureen Downey misses the point. The issue is not whether students are being pulled left, right or otherwise but whether they are being taught what they need to know. And evidence shows they are not.

At institutions across the country, students can graduate without ever taking such subjects as Shakespeare, American political history or military history as professors abandon the teaching of more “traditional” fields in favor of other subjects.

The problem is not active indoctrination but the far more subtle damage that occurs when course offerings are driven by the varied interests and agendas of the faculty and not the intellectual needs of the students. Students cannot know what they are not taught. And that should have parents, students and taxpayers concerned.

Anne D. Neal
President
American Council of Trustees and Alumni
Washington