Liberalism may not be a prerequisite in having a teaching job everywhere in the U.S., but it certainly is in the college curriculum for education majors. Conservative teachers trying to make inroads in the NEA face incredible opposition. It's very sad.
I attended a psychology conference last year, and went to a session for new
professors, which was supposed to discuss issues new teachers face.
Topics discussed included: "how do we "reach" students in the intro
classes, because by the time they get to the 200 level, they may not be as
malleable," "how do we criticize the war and the military without upsetting students who have relatives serving," "how do we tell conservative students all of their values are wrong," and "how to go about forcing students to volunteeer for instructors' liberal pet causes."
That was before the Iraq war "debate" at lunch time, and the post-lunch speech by a black professor who argued evangelicals will roll back Brown v. Board of Ed. Very educational conference. Those were only a few of the highlights.