HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Florida Public College Abolishes Tenure.

A public college in Florida has taken a decisive step to eliminate tenure, putting one of the largest cracks yet in a gradually-crumbling edifice.

Instead of receiving tenure after five years of employment, from now on professors at the State College of Florida will only receive annual contracts the school can decline to renew at any time.

The change only applies to new hires and does not affect currently-tenured faculty, but it still had to overcome a storm of protest from staff. Some said the school will be unable to attract any talented applicants, while others said it would make it too easy to fire faculty who aroused controversy.

Well, that’s true, and non-PC faculty are very grateful for tenure. On the other hand, are there enough non-PC faculty to make it worth it?

Plus:

Tenure has been under severe attack in K-12 schools by critics who say it mostly serves to protect low-quality teachers. But it’s held up better in colleges and universities, where professors argue tenure is critical for preserving their academic freedom. Still, it’s been an increasingly popular punching bag for reformers who say such protections are simply outdated.

But even in academia there are signs of disintegration. In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker’s most recent budget revoked the state’s statutory guarantee of tenure, and also redefined tenure in a way that makes it far easier to lay off professors even if they have it. At colleges across the U.S., there is a trend of hiring more and more adjunct professors who are ineligible for tenure, while tenured professors who retire simply aren’t replaced.

This is a major issue. If tenure is essential to a university, why are so many people teaching there untenured?