Please check out my recent Chronicle of Higher Education article titled "Parents: Why Your Children Need College Teachers With Tenure."

This is part of a broader effort to inform the public about the meaning of tenure and academic freedom and advocate for their support. Of course the AAUP does not have access to students and their parents across the country.

Instead we invite faculty members to share the essay with their students and encourage them, in turn, to distribute it to their parents and friends.

If you would like to have a more elaborate conversation with a class about tenure or academic freedom, you could also distribute our 1940 Statement and our founding 1915 Declaration. We also recently distributed an important statement about why all teaching faculty should have tenure.

We would also be happy to share ideas about lesson plans on academic freedom and tenure. Send us your ideas.

The AAUP Online is an electronic newsletter of the American Association of University Professors. The mission of the AAUP is to advance academic freedom and shared governance, to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education , and to ensure higher education's contribution to the common good. By joining, faculty members, academic professionals, and graduate students help to shape the future of the profession and proclaim their dedication to the education community. Visit the AAUP Web site and Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.