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OGDEN -- Teachers in Ogden are starting to get letters telling them to sign a new contract with performance pay or find a new job.
The Ogden School Board says it had no other choice, but teachers feel they are the ones not being given a choice.
Doug Stephens got his letter in the mail over the holiday weekend. It outlines how the district will move from step pay to performance pay over the next few years.
"We're not against the concept of merit pay; It's just a very, very complex issue," said Stephens, who serves as the president of the Ogden Education Association. He called the move by the school board unprecedented.
We hope they'll be with us and be on board. If they chose not to be with us, we wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors.
–Superintendent Noel Zabriskie
Ogden Superintendent Noel Zabriskie said, "It's a pretty bold move."
Zabriskie says performance pay has a lot of traction now, and the board thought it best for the budget and for students. It will be phased in over the next six years, and Zabriskie says he wants lots of input from the teachers union and others. He says teachers will also get an almost 3 percent pay increase as well.
But Stephens says teachers are most shocked about the part of the letter that says they must sign by July 20 or lose your job.
"We don't have any other choice but to sign," he said. "We are all for looking for solutions to help us to do the job better, but the Ogden City School District is forcing us to sign up for a system that they don't have the answers to."
Zabriskie says teachers knew they were leaning in this direction.
"We hope they'll be with us and be on board. If they chose not to be with us, we wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors," he said.
Zabriskie said this was not a move to bust the teachers union after they went for months without reaching an agreement.
"This is an effort to make financial sense, to get and retain good teachers, and develop a program to help the learning of young people," he said.
Email: mrichards@ksl.com
