It has taken Columbine and other tragedies to wake America up to the idea that children's moral development is as vital as their intellectual growth, Coles says.
"Well, it's about time," he says.
Always the radical, Coles qualifies his applause for "family values" conservatives, like former Secretary of Education William J. Bennett, who have appropriated some of his ideas about children and morality to justify policies like abstinence-based sex education in schools.
"I don't think these [moral] concerns should be the property of the Republican Party," he says, smiling.
The most famous man to almost serve as a teaching fellow for Gen Ed 105--who in 1996 objected to Bob Dole playing "Born in the USA" at presidential campaign events--would be proud.