KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Missouri lawmaker who is proposing eliminating tenure for professors at all of the state’s two- and four-year public colleges and universities says tenure is an outdated system that is no longer needed to protect teachers from being unjustly fired.
Rep. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, said eliminating tenure would save public money, give schools more flexibility and bring higher education in line with other industries, The Kansas City Star reported.
Brattin, a military veteran who owns a Cass County construction company, said his bill would end tenure-track hiring in 2018 but would not take tenure from those who have already earned it.
To earn tenure, associate professors must publish several research articles and have a history of successful teaching over a probationary period that can last seven years.
The bill would also require public colleges to publish “estimated costs of degrees, employment opportunities expected for graduates, average salaries of previous graduates, and a summary of the job market” for a specific degree.
Opponents contend ending tenure would cause teachers to leave Missouri and put the state at a competitive disadvantage in recruiting professors and researchers.
“Should this ill-conceived bill become law in Missouri, it will immediately become extremely difficult to attract talented faculty members and to retain good faculty,” said Gary Ebersole, a tenured professor of history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
