Should Kentucky professors go on strike to stop tenure changes? Some think so

A Kentucky professor says educators in the state's public colleges and universities must consider going on strike to stop a provision that would allow tenured faculty members to be fired when making financial cuts.

The provision inserted in House Bill 200 — added by Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel — allows state university boards the power to fire tenured professors if the schools change or eliminate certain academic programs. The proposal has rattled many faculty members across the state who say those employment protections are a bedrock of academic freedom.

University of Louisville professor Tomarra Adams said if her colleagues want to be taken seriously they should strike before state lawmakers approve the $22 billion budget plan that contains the tenure language.

"There has to be action taken before this budget bill moves forward," said Adams, who teaches in the Pan-African Studies Department. "I believe that a movement of that nature would bring it to light truly what the majority interests are."

Related: What do universities say about plan to fire tenured professors?

Professor David Owen, who teaches philosophy at U of L, said he hadn't heard talk of a strike but that it would be a reasonable response to threats against the tenure system.

"Before striking, however, faculty should first cultivate the support of the students and do more to engage the community on this issue," he said. "We need to be sure the public understands the meaning and value of tenure in universities and the dire consequences if this passes."

U of L faculty are scheduled to meet on the Belknap campus Friday morning to discuss possible action, Owen said.

McDaniel said he added the passage after consulting with Kentucky university board members and presidents. But the legislator has declined to identify which university leaders he has discussed the provision with.

Professor Ricky L. Jones, chairman of the Pan-African Studies Department at U of L, called out the senator on Twitter, saying McDaniel was a "liar" and hadn't consulted with any university officials about the issue.

McDaniel did not immediately respond to a second Courier Journal request sent Wednesday evening asking him to identify who he spoke with.

Courier Journal reached out to all eight public universities in the state, as well as the Kentucky Community & Technical College System, to see whether any of their administrators had spoken with McDaniel.

Spokesmen for both University of Louisville and University of Kentucky said their presidents (Greg Postel and Eli Capilouto, respectively) and board chairs (J. David Grissom and Dr. Edward Britt Brockman) did not have talks with the senator about the provision.

Other Kentucky university and college officials have said they haven't been consulted about the passage either.

Northern Kentucky University said it is the school’s “policy not to disclose details of private conversations with legislators.”

Ty Handy, president of Jefferson Community and Technical College in Louisville, said he learned about discussions regarding tenure within the last two weeks. But, he added, he did not know that those changes were inserted in the budget bill.

Based on what he's read and heard, the passage would not change what's done at the community college level, Handy said.

Mary Hemlepp, a spokeswoman for KCTCS, which oversees the local community college, said President Jay Box hadn't spoken to legislators about the tenure passage in the budget proposal. She added that she is not aware if any KCTCS board members had talked with McDaniel.

Box said in a statement that the board has "shown its support for tenure, and we have policies in place that address this. We don’t foresee any changes because of new legislation."

Consider this: Kentucky teachers are angry over pension reform. Could they go on strike?

Robert King, president of the state's council on post-secondary education, said he meets monthly with Box and the university presidents. The group's main responsibilities are to produce a budget request and set tuition rates.

Gov. Matt Bevin's budget director asked the group to discuss the possibility of clarifying the language regarding tenure that's currently in law, King said. They responded with information based on what's recommended by the national American Association of University Professors.

King said the language that was included in McDaniel's insertion was different from their response, and he doesn't know who is responsible for that change. But he's surprised by the outrage because the intent of the changes was to clarify language and account for potential future higher education cuts.

"I would hope that the faculty would take a breath and really try to understand what’s there," King said. "And hopefully the General Assembly will take their concerns seriously."

Tenure is considered a bedrock of academic freedom among university faculty, but it has come under scrutiny from Republican-led state legislatures and governors in recent years.

In Wisconsin, tenure protections were gutted from state law that left individual schools' board of regents to make that decision. Over the objections of its faculty, the University of Wisconsin board approved changes two years ago that allow for tenured faculty layoffs when academic programs are discontinued.

Iowa lawmakers also pushed a bill this year to eliminate tenure at state universities, but it died after opposition led by the Iowa Board of Regents and state university administrators.

Handy, who was a tenured faculty member prior to his appointment as JCTC president in 2015, said he understands the concerns of faculty across the state who feel that the change is going to "squelch" their academic freedom. He said that the change, however, would give colleges and universities more flexibility to make financial adjustments to survive.

"Unfortunately in these times when state budgets get cut and enrollments decline, we have to find the right balance," Handy said.

You may like: How two Louisville college dropouts in their 20s made a mint in Bitcoins

But former University of Louisville board of trustees chairman Bob Hughes criticized the plan on social media. "Dreadful threat to new and original thinking," he said on Twitter.

Western Kentucky University professor Alex Poole, who teaches English, said he questions the motivation for the change when current rules already allow for tenured faculty to be terminated for cause.

"When you have higher level administrators who may not be interested in giving faculty due process, this is a very frightening situation," Poole said. "If they feel like it, they can just get rid of you, and that's not a very healthy thing for a university and it will not attract people to come here."

Poole said WKU needs to come out more forcefully against the language, adding that the provision being added at the last-minute has also robbed university professors from having a voice in the discussions.

In a statement, WKU spokesman Bob Skipper said the school is committed to following current tenure guidelines. He did not address the school's position on McDaniel's insertion.

Owen, the U of L philosophy professor, said there hasn't been a satisfactory response by senior university officials in Louisville about this issue.

"I hope that leaders at U of L — at all levels — will engage this issue to make it clear to the public as well as the legislature how damaging this would be to public higher education in the commonwealth," he said.

Adams, the Pan-African studies professor, said she is amazed and insulted at the lackluster response from the university. She noted that the university put more time and energy in announcing the hiring of new men's basketball head coach Chris Mack than to refute the tenure proposal publicly.

"It speaks volumes to the priority of the institution and just how misplaced our leadership’s vision for higher education is," Adams said.

U of L spokesman John Karman said the school "will continue to monitor the measure as it is debated in the General Assembly."

Professor Frank X. Walker, who teaches English at the University of Kentucky, said the trend of budget cuts coupled with the proposed tenure changes represents a targeted "war on education" in the state. But he said it's up to university faculty to take the lead, even those who feel their departments or programs are insulated from cuts.

"What surprises me is that faculty aren't more outspoken," Walker said. "Now that our tenure is on the line I'm hopeful there will be a huge uproar across the state at every level not just to protect ourselves to public school teacher and others who have been targeted by this administration."

Read this: Mystery tax reform and a pension bill still in play as budget talks continue

The Bevin administration had similar language about tenured faculty in its original budget that was presented earlier this year. The House removed those provisions in its version, but the language was added back in the Senate last week.

If the tenure language makes it through, such a change is likely to hit hardest among the state's regional universities that are facing devastating budget cuts. At Eastern Kentucky University, officials may have to eliminate up to 200 positions along with bachelor-level courses in business, math and chemistry.

Walker, a former Kentucky poet laureate, said faculty across the state have to consider a collective strike given the severity of what this proposal represents.

"There will always be people who won't take this seriously unless you do something to disrupt the norm, and I think most strikes are designed to do just that," he said.

McDaniel's tenure provision will be decided — as with the rest of the budget bill — by Democratic and Republican leaders who are negotiating in public and behind scenes on the state's $22 billion spending plan over the next two years.

Democratic legislators in the negotiation room say they're aware of the issue and oppose the tenure language.

"Our House Democratic leadership is very opposed to this language and will fight to have it removed from the final budget," said state Rep. Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, the House minority leader.

Senate Minority Leader Ray Jones, D-Pikeville, told Courier Journal the provision shows Republicans do not care about the state's progress and is among many parts of the budget bill that Democrats take exception with.

Speaker Pro Tem David Osborne did not immediately respond to a request for comment about his thoughts on the issue.

Phillip M. Bailey: 502-582-4475; pbailey@courier-journal.com. Justin Sayers: 502-582-4252; jsayers@gannett.com; Twitter: @_JustinSayers. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/philb.