Bill sponsor, Republican Rep. James Tipton, says the intent of the measure is not to end tenure, but rather to clarify and strengthen schools' ability to hold faculty accountable.
"It's a review process to improve faculty and if there are situations where faculty are not meeting those standards, the university should have an opportunity to remove that faculty member from their campus," he said Tuesday.
Under current rules, tenure is not a lifetime guarantee. Kentucky law already allows faculty and administrators to be ousted for incompetence, neglect, refusal to perform duties, or immoral conduct. Under House Bill 228, the causes for firing a professor who's tenured would be expanded.
Democratic Rep. Josie Raymond argued the guardrails are already strong enough and the bill might be taking aim at the wrong target.
"I think this bill casts suspicion on hundreds or thousands of high-performing professors when really we might need to look at presidents or deans or boards who are not enforcing the current strong statute for incompetency and neglect," she countered.
The bill was up for discussion only Tuesday. The committee did not take any action.
