In 1998, "Teaching Tolerance" - a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center - offered a laudatory interview with Bill Ayers, the former Weather Underground terrorist. They only referred to how he "literally walked out of jail into his first teaching position" and the fact that he was a "radical anti-Vietnam War activist" without revealing that he was a domestic terrorist and a largely unrepentant one at that. Apparently there are no enemies to the left as far as the SPLC is concerned. One must be tolerant.

The interview is "An Unconditional Embrace":
tolerance.org/magazine/number-13-spring-1998/unconditional-embrace
(Screengrab here)

That links to an excerpt of his book:
tolerance.org/supplement/kind-and-just-parent
(Screengrab here)

The introduction to the interview follows:

At age 20, Bill Ayers literally walked out of jail into his first teaching position. Throughout his career as a civil rights organizer, radical anti-Vietnam War activist, teacher and author, Ayers has developed a rich vision of teaching that interweaves passion, responsibility and self-reflection.

Ayers has taught in public schools and spearheaded alternative education projects. In 1992 he co-founded the Small Schools Workshop, an organization dedicated to bringing about systemic school reform by restructuring large, factory-model schools into teacher-directed, intimate learning environments with close community connections. As a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, he helps aspiring teachers recognize and tap the potential of every child.

For Ayers, challenging stereotypes and reforming inner-city schools is as much about fighting for social justice as about improving the quality of teaching and learning. Several of Ayers' books outline his powerful call to action. They include The Good Preschool Teacher; To Teach (both Teachers College Press); and, most recently, A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court

Education activist and former Teaching Tolerance Research Fellow Gabrielle Lyon interviewed Bill Ayers in Chicago in May 1997.