Despite the frustration some Kansas lawmakers have expressed toward a few faculty members at state universities, and specifically Kansas University, trying to legislate academic standards is a level of micromanagement that will benefit no one.

A resolution that supporters call the Academic Bill of Rights has been introduced in the Kansas Legislature. Although the proposal existed before last year’s flap over comments made by a Kansas University religion professor, that incident probably has helped fuel interest in the matter.

The resolution states that faculty members shouldn’t use their courses or positions “for the purpose of political, ideological, religious or anti-religious indoctrination.” It also says faculty members should expose students to a range of opposing viewpoints and promote academic pluralism. The resolution includes a strong recommendation that all colleges and universities in the state comply with its requirements.

While most state residents agree it is wrong for faculty to engage in “indoctrination” and important for students to be exposed to a variety of viewpoints, the idea of government officials policing those standards raises some concerns. Who is best qualified to evaluate the content of university courses? State legislators or university faculty, administrators and the Kansas Board of Regents?

Because of their academic credentials and the years they have spent studying their subjects, the opinions of faculty members carry significant weight. In most cases, it would be safe to say that the faculty members know far more about a topic than their students do. Faculty members also are accountable to their colleagues both at their own university and other universities for the quality of their teaching and scholarship.

While it’s important that students be exposed to points of view with which the teacher disagrees, it’s also true that not all of those points of view are equally valid from an academic standpoint. As a representative of the American Association of University Professors points out, giving equal weight to all viewpoints expressed by students or others would reduce all knowledge to simply a matter of opinion. If the acceptance and teaching of all viewpoints were carried to an extreme, he contended, “education would be rendered superfluous.” There would be no knowledge, just opinions.

The concern of legislators apparently is that university faculty members are disproportionately liberal and are trying to impose liberal viewpoints on their students. However, even if that concern is a reality, trying use a resolution passed by a political body to police the situation isn’t the right strategy. Academic pursuits shouldn’t be subject to fluctuations in the political climate.

The late Franklin Murphy, a great KU chancellor, frequently said a university should be a free marketplace of ideas. Academic freedom doesn’t mean that faculty members are free to ignore opposing opinions or insist that students be indoctrinated to their point of view. It should, however, mean that faculty members are free from political retribution based on what non-academic lawmakers determine to be proper or improper course content.