Breakdown.

During the 1960s, as a classroom teacher in the Los Angeles unified school district, I saw firsthand how the student-rights movement eroded the authority of public-school faculty and set the stage for the chaos taking place on too many campuses today ("Sparing Rods, Spoiling Children," by Richard Arum, Oct. 11). Lawsuits filed against schools for disciplining students, as far back as 1964, had an unimaginably emasculating effect. By 1974, the doctrine of in loco parentis was quaint, as education law grew into a lucrative specialty. As Arum ably demonstrates, the effects of this unfortunate revolution are still being felt.

Walt Gardner

Los Angeles, Calif.