Education
Education

Should colleges require balance of liberal, conservative faculty?

An Iowa lawmaker wants public colleges in his state to consider a professor’s political party in hiring to ensure a balance of conservative and liberal viewpoints in the classrooms. (AJC File)
An Iowa lawmaker wants public colleges in his state to consider a professor’s political party in hiring to ensure a balance of conservative and liberal viewpoints in the classrooms. (AJC File)
By Maureen Downey
Feb 22, 2017

For the sake of diversity, should colleges hire more professors with conservative political views?

That is the goal of a state senator from Iowa who has proposed legislation that would mandate a balance of ideologies in the faculty teaching at the state’s public colleges and universities.

The bill from Sen. Mark Chelgren, R-Ottumwa, requires: “Partisan balance of the faculty employed at each of the institutions of higher learning governed by the board. A person shall not be hired as a professor or instructor member of the faculty at such an institution if the person’s political party affiliation on the date of hire would cause the percentage of the faculty belonging to one political party to exceed by ten percent the percentage of the faculty belonging to the other political party.”

Chelgren says colleges already use diversity as a consideration in some of their decisions. Why shouldn’t political party count as a diversity measure?

The idea is generating national debate.To read more, go to the AJC Get Schooled blog.

About the Author

Maureen Downey has written editorials and opinion pieces about local, state and federal education policy since the 1990s.

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