Anarchists For Core Knowledge?

A reporter covering the protests in New York City emails Eduwonk that there are some generational tensions among the protestors:

It was almost like a parody: baby boomers were complaining that today’s young anarchists have no intellectual base. They are able to send text messages to each other about where the next action will be, and yet they don’t have a clue about the world around them. They complained that none of the kids knew who Cesar Chavez or Saul Alinsky were.

Apparently the older protestors are, understandably, concerned that their messages will be lost in the mayhem and that the protests will not be taken seriously. There is no small irony here. One of the big arguments against academic standards is that it will hurt the ability of kids to think critically. Could it be that the opposite is true? Could arch-villain E.D. Hirsch be onto something?