3,000 Educators Sign Statement to Support William Ayers

More than 3,000 educators have signed a statement in support of William Ayers, the University of Illinois-Chicago professor who has found himself under attack as a "washed-up terrorist" by the McCain campaign of late, the Brown Daily Herald reports.

The "friends and supporters of Bill Ayers" have circulated the statement online to combat the "character assassination and slander" of the Weather Underground founder. "I think he's doing a lot of positive, progressive, constructive work right now," said one Brown professor of Ayers's current work in education.