<p>Just curious...the NE is terribly liberal leaning yet guys like the Koch brothers feed Deerfield money....what type of political leaning beliefs will my son be exposed to if accepted into a TSAO school? </p>
<p>At S1’s school, the wealthy kids tend to be repubs, and the faculty + FA kids tend to be demos. S1 is socially liberal, but he & other students do resent some of their very, very left-leaning teachers overtly shoving their political beliefs down their students’ throats. He & other students fear being penalized by these teachers for expressing their own more moderate views in class discussions & essay assignments.</p>
<p>The koch brothers, BTW, are libertarian, i.e. socially liberal & fiscally conservative. They advocate for gay rights & decriminalization of drugs, along w lower taxes, lower defense spending, & free enterprise.</p>
<p>Boy, I’ve missed a lot of opportunities to shove my political beliefs down my students’ throats! </p>
<p>I once had a student ask whether or not I was Republican and a Catholic. He’d had four years of classes with me and had come to a pretty firm conclusion that I was both. He waited til after graduation to ask, so I figured he could handle learning I was neither. He was completely shocked.
I’d agree, however, that in general, slightly more than half the students tend to be republicans and the majority of faculty tend to be democrats. (our faculty, according to a presidential straw poll, runs 80/20 Dem/Rep.) There is sometimes a small handful of boys who’ve gotten their hands on Ayn Rand who embrace extremist libertarian views. The International kids will add another layer of political beliefs. Just from sitting on dorm duty over the years, I can say there are a lot of different ideas and opinions being discussed.</p>
<p>I’d like to hope that teachers who express their political opinions in class do so in a spirit that does not seek to indoctrinate or drown out debate, but obviously, sometimes we fall short of that ideal. I know I was recently stuck in a tough situation moderating a discussion (not in my class) where one boy was loudly championing racial profiling. It was a fine line between not allowing some outrageous and hurtful statements to go unchallenged and making sure that I would not get accused of pushing an agenda. I did the best I could. Many of you would probably judge that I didn’t get it right.</p>
<p>I say, Indoctrinate the heck out of your kids before you send them off to school, and raise them to think critically about all the messages they hear–including those from people in positions of power. If the teacher is passionate and vocal about his political beliefs, remind your kid that educated adults should be passionate and involved in politics–but your kid gets to choose which parties/messages/cults s/he is going to believe. Even my most wacky lefty friends would never penalize a student for his/her beliefs–but I can only speak for my friends and colleagues; not all teachers everywhere.</p>
<p>All these teachers shoveling political beliefs into our minds… :)</p>
<p>@Albion, I respect your professionalism. </p>
<p>S1 had a gay teacher who asked the students in class what they were doing in observance of Day of Silence, which has absolutely nothing to do with the subject matter of the class. We’re supportive of gay rights, but think math teachers should teach math…</p>
<p>Deerfield in particular (since that IS the school with the Koch ties) is mixed, as described above (liberal faculty and day students, mixed boarders-- definitely more republicans than you see in western Mass in general). The school does do a little Koch fawning-- just named David Koch lifetime member of the board (at least, I THINK it was David)-- in thanks for the absolutely stunning science center he donated-- but the Deerfield scroll also published a pretty vitriolic article from am alum saying that giving Koch that position was disgusting, given the political stands he has taken. So you get both sides. The school, as you’d expect, does take a lot of care to support diversity-- in admissions and in programs. There are lots of workshops, etc. on gender issues, they kicked a kid out this year for racist remarks, etc., and they keep up with the times in terms of curriculum (there’s a very cool new interdisciplinary course on global water, etc.). On the other hand, as I said, it definitely is a different place than most of western Mass. For example, while they have a GSA, a gay student (who’s out) recently wrote an article for the Scroll saying that, while being gay at Deerfield is “fine,” it’s still not as welcoming as some campuses might be, and he thinks some kids still might not be “out” because of that-- although he’s never had to deal with any problems at all himself. So it’s a little mixed. It doesn’t seem like the school itself shoves political views down anyone’s throat, but I can’t speak for all the individual teachers, since DS is a freshman. So far, there hasn’t been a lot of politics in the classroom (but I’ve heard from alums the whole liberal faculty/day students, mixed boarders thing).</p>
<p>@Daykidmom: You’re right- it was David.</p>
<p>OP- All gifts to schools are meant to be celebrated. They are never used to further a political agenda. If that were the case, I’m sure The Jon Corzine (Former Governor DNJ) Athletic Center at Pomfret would be suspect, too. </p>
<p>It doesn’t matter if it’s an academic building or sports center - students and parents applaud and deeply appreciate every gift. If parents or students can’t understand the spirit and generosity behind these gifts- I can’t help them. </p>