After my last column, I was gently and good-naturedly chastised by a ‘faithful reader’. The input was interesting.
Essentially, I was chided for my two recent columns which dealt with 1) the Education Secretary nominee and 2) the topic of tenure.  The complaint was not so much for content (there were no signs of agreement or disagreement), but rather for the nature of those columns.
I’m mostly paraphrasing, but this reader preferred my normally lighter columns (which are apparently ‘a fun distraction – like a crossword puzzle’) to the heavier content of the two in question. Specifically mentioned as preferred was a real-world gumball-packing problem discussed last year.  (I liked that one, too!)
I appreciated the comments (and especially the calmer, non-adversarial nature of the note!).   Truth be told, I’m in partial agreement!  Personally, I dislike writing the columns that skate close to the thinner ice of the political arena. Normally, I can avoid that.
But MUCH is happening these days in the world of politics (now there’s an understatement!) and some of it can greatly affect the world of education.  Like all matters of education, these things can greatly affect all of us.  So, some of these ramifications need to at least be observed and/or commented upon as they occur.
All that said, let me use my remaining words to pitch out two more important points on the tenure theme, before we skate away from it entirely. (Sneaky, eh?)
First there’s this idea that “in the academic world, you can get away with literally anything”, a quote directly from Rick Brattin, the legislator from Cass County who we met last time.  Such a thing is simply not true, of course.  There are procedures in place for most eventualities, and safeguards for all concerned.  Yes, it is hard to ‘fire’ a tenured professor.  It should be, for all the reasons discussed last time.
Nevertheless, let’s interject some perspective here.  All things considered, I don’t think I’m out of line to suspect that it is probably no harder to be fired for a heinous act of some kind in the academic world (tenured or otherwise) than it is to be removed for the same act in Mr. Brattin’s political arena.  I’m not being sarcastic or derogatory, just realistic.  Cases in point abound, especially nationally. Pick your own.   I’m just not sure Mr. Brattin should be so dismissive.
Finally, there’s the not-quite-so-apparent economic dimension to Missouri’s HB 266 (the tenure bill in question).  Suppose you are a promising young researcher, or a gifted teacher of students – or both – just finishing graduate school or looking to make a move of some kind.  Suppose you are offered two equal university positions, one in Missouri, with HB266 in effect, and one in another state that has not eliminated some job security in this world of changing political influences.  Which will you take?
I suspect the answer to that question is obvious.  How, then, will that answer affect Missouri, in both the short and the long term, if it can no longer attract the same quality of professors it once did?
So, I return to my slightly annoyed reader from last time.  Hopefully, we can all return to the columns which are more fun to read, as well as to write (bring on the gumballs)!  But I have this uneasy feeling there may be more detours ahead.  If so, keep the comments coming!