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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A state lawmaker wants to repeal a law that protects teachers from unfair firings.
Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, said firing teachers should be up to individual school districts and said he doesn't see why the state is involved in hiring-and-firing policies.
Wimmer is working on a bill to repeal the Utah Orderly School Termination Procedures Act, which sets minimum procedures districts must follow in dismissing teachers, including guidelines on evaluations, notifications, hearings and pay.
"It really makes the districts jump through a lot of hoops and go through a lot of bureaucracy before they can let the teacher go," Wimmer said. "My whole object is to allow the local school district to have the authority."
Districts would still have to follow due-process and fairness procedures outlined by U.S. Supreme Court case law, said Carol Lear, director for school law and legislation at the State Office of Education.
Lear said she doesn't think many districts would change their policies if the law were repealed.
"I don't think for the most part, school districts think this is an unreasonable law," Lear said. "It was really carefully crafted and it's served us quite well."
Utah Education Association President Kim Campbell said the law isn't there to protect bad teachers.
"There's this myth that there are all these teachers out there who aren't being terminated because of the law, when in effect, the law is the way to terminate a bad teacher," Campbell said. "Otherwise I could see districts embroiled in a lot of lawsuits about the process."
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
