Posted on 01/19/2026 6:01:13 AM PST by karpov
Provisions in a budget passed in the Badger State this previous summer require that faculty at Wisconsin’s two flagship universities—UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee—now teach at least one course per semester and 12 credit hours each school year. At smaller universities, the requirements are higher. Choleric and incredulous, professors turned to the local paper to vent their outrage.
I come here not to critique that policy specifically. There’s a colorable case to be made on either side of it. Perhaps a biologist working at the edge of human knowledge would be better off researching than teaching. Conversely, I feel little sympathy for university faculty who must now set down their morning lattes long enough to give a lecture.
Instead, I simply want to note that Republican lawmakers managed to pass a conservative-coded policy in a purple state with a Democratic governor. It’s all well and good to point to Florida or Texas and wish that every state could do likewise. Unfortunately, not every state capitol boasts a conservative governor ready to pick controversial fights backed up by a large Republican majority. Wisconsin demonstrates that even purple states can win meaningful, albeit limited, conservative victories.
To misquote Tolstoy, every single-party state is alike, but every purple state is divided in its own way. If the governor’s office, legislative body, and state supreme court all boast conservative majorities, the only task is managing internal factions. How split majorities hold power varies state by state. In Wisconsin, Republicans control both the Senate and the Assembly, which allows them to contest and overrule a Democrat governor. In Nevada, it’s the reverse. Some state parties have slim majorities, others large.
Consequently, it’s hard to give a one-size-fits-all recommendation for higher-ed reform in every purple state.
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
If they don’t teach no need for professorship.
p
Those who are not lecturing to undergraduates are often training and supervising graduate students and their research.
The professor is sad that the days of cushy academic jobs for life are over. He should be blaming the university for hiring expensive, non teaching admin positions who are just non functioning overhead.
Also creating a system where the "publish or perish" monster as a way of demonstrating success. In operation begats laughable subject journals and volumes of academic research fraud.
storefront university
employer applicant testing services
academic dinosaurs
Pope Center, Martin Center, Pope Martin Center, who what? Never once has this hick operation moved the needle for grassroots conservatives, or Constitutional Originalism, or the Mission Statement of Free Republic.
Your family doesn't want to talk to you so that gives you the right to shit up Free Republic? Go out and touch grass or crawl under it...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.