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SALT LAKE CITY -- A bill to completely overhaul the way teachers in Utah are paid and fired is moving toward introduction in the Utah Legislature.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Aaron Osmond, R-South Jordan, is asking teachers themselves to weigh in on the proposal. More than 100 teachers from northern Utah met with him Monday and more meetings are planned this week.
Our biggest concern is we don't want this to be a slap in the face to our teachers.
–Sen. Aaron Osmond
Osmond wants to reshape Utah's employment laws for teachers. Currently, educators can attain career status after teaching for three to five years, then they can only be fired after due process.
Osmond says he doesn't like the one-size-fits-all rules. Instead, he wants each school district to create its own rules on how teachers are hired and how they're fired.
7 p.m.
Granite School District
2500 S. State St.
South Salt Lake
Thursday
7 p.m.
Iron County School District
2077 W. Royal Hunte Dr.
Cedar City
"Our biggest concern is we don't want this to be a slap in the face to our teachers," he told KSL. "We already know that our teachers feel very stressed, under enormous constraints."
Osmond wants teachers to be hired on a five year contract system. And he's in favor of performance-based bonus pay for teachers.
He says if teacher input is not favorable, he will rethink his proposal.
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com