What we do know about Mercer Island was that the high school she attended there and its administration was about the most leftist in the entire country at the time. If she wasn't already a Red Diaper baby from her earlier years, she could have come out of her high school highly influenced by socialist and communist ideology, more so than the vast majority of her contemporaries, ready to pass it on to her son with serious consequences to the nation down the road.
Before I reviewed the whole MIHS story thoroughly, I would have agreed with you.
Now, my conclusion is, with the exception of superintendent Stenhouse (he may actually have been a fall guy though and not an exception), the whole lefty characterization of MIHS was grossly overstated in the reporters’ articles. A number of the former students made comments in public forums and basically said the commie breeding ground stuff is crap. If you doubt that, have a look at Val Foubert via his memorial web site. He wasn’t a lefty, not even close. “Anarchy Alley” if indeed the term was ever in use back then was only accurate in that Wichterman introduced commie literature and other provocative subjects because he wanted the kids to be aware of it, not because he promoted it as a philosophy to adopt. Remember that he was described as an atheist? The truth is he was a church youth leader for years!