What is the future of tenure?

The Wall Street Journal reports.

Professor Tenure Battle Heats Up in Wisconsin

The Board of Regents at the University of Wisconsin system moved closer to overseeing tenure rules for faculty, a week after a key legislative committee agreed to strip them from law in an escalating battle over higher education in the state.

While the board vote Friday affirmed support for the importance of tenure and adopted as policy the current protections in state law, faculty fear that the regents, dominated by appointees of Republican Gov. Scott Walker, are on a path to overhaul the system in ways that weaken tenure and make faculty layoffs easier. A review is under way, with a new tenure policy expected next year.

The Wisconsin fight is gaining national attention because Mr. Walker, a likely presidential candidate, stripped away employment protections for teachers and other public-sector employees back in 2011. His focus on higher education now can be seen as an extension of those earlier efforts.