Sol Stern (born 1935) is the author of the book Breaking Free: Public School Lessons and the Imperative of School Choice (2003)[1] and has written extensively on education reform.[2]
Stern began his career with the radical magazine Ramparts to which, in 1967, he contributed the article "A Short Account of International Student Politics and the Cold War with Particular Reference to the NSA, CIA, etc." It included the allegation that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had supported the National Student Association, ties that later were confirmed by the organization itself. The CIA funded overseas projects to the tune of $3.3 million, and it recruited NSA staff members for intelligence work.[3] In 1968, Stern signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments to protest the Vietnam War.[4]
His departure from radicalism came after New Left attacks on Israel.[5] He also collaborated with Ronald Radosh on a research project into the evidence against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Originally intending to prove their innocence, Stern and Radosh came to believe that the Rosenbergs had been guilty of spying for the Soviet Union. In 2008, The New York Times described him as a "cantankerous provocateur against liberal education policies, criticizing reading curriculums that de-emphasize phonics as well as public schools that focus on social justice."[6] Stern has written critiques of Paulo Freire's work,[7]Bill Ayers's career as an education reformer for City Journal and elsewhere and of Palestinian motives "A Century of Palestinian Rejectionism and Jew Hatred (2011)".[8][9] In 2020, Stern publicly broke with City Journal, arguing the magazine had lost its independent outlook in the Trump era.[10]
