[AmishDude]

The problem is, if they fire him, they undermine the tenure process and tenure is an easy way to keep salaries down. (Since there's usually one university in town, nobody's going to want to take the chance that administration might decide your research area is out of fashion, so you'd have to pay people through the roof to take an academic job without tenure possibilities -- at least for real professors, in the sciences.)

The easiest thing is kill his department and put him in one that will not be so friendly to his teaching requests. I'd prefer putting him in the math department to teach remedial algebra. I suspect he's woefully unqualified.

[FreeKeys]

The problem is, if they fire him, they undermine the tenure process and tenure is an easy way to keep salaries down.

Funny thing is, you addressed this to ME, and I'M one of the biggest fans of CHANGING THE WHOLE DAMN SYSTEM NOMATTER WHAT. Pay for Merit, merit, merit. PERIOD. The VASTLY improved productivity of the citizens will in time more than make up for the costs of hiring REALLY PRODUCTIVE PROFESSORS.

As far as the incompetent ones are concerned, the days of their gravy train are NUMBERED. Keep ranting to your state legislators.