Big pay hikes sought for teachers

Help for students struggling to pass the high school basic skills test and for elementary schoolchildren making the leap to more advanced math concepts might be on its way via vouchers and teacher merit pay — a policy twist that's not sitting well with state education leaders.

Meanwhile, an "Education 1000" initiative unveiled Tuesday seeks to hire 1,000 new instructors and offer $2,000 in bonuses to all teachers.

Both initiatives would, most likely, tap the half-billion-dollar surplus in income tax revenues.

• House Majority Whip Steve Urquhart, R-St. George, is drafting HB181, which would contain $16 million for vouchers and merit pay and change the law on firing teachers.

The bill would include $6 million to provide a voucher to high school seniors needing help to pass the Basic Skills Competency Test, a requirement of a full high school diploma. The voucher would come after the student passes the test. Students could seek help from any willing provider.

The bill also would set aside $10 million for merit pay for fourth- through sixth-grade teachers in Title I schools whose students show a years' worth of growth on the state's math CRTs, the tests showing how well students understand the state core curriculum. The money would come for a certain percentage of a class advancing a full grade level — even if it is not yet to the level the state desires for that age.

The bill also would look at termination provisions so it would be easier to fire "absolutely the worst teachers," Urquhart said.

"I'm interested in paying for outputs rather than paying for inputs," Urquhart said Tuesday. "We've put a lot of money into public education — far and away the biggest expenditure the state has. There's already a lot of seed money in teaching students the basic things they need to know. Some teachers are going to do what it takes to get the job done."

Improving math instruction on fourth- through sixth-grade is a top Utah Board of Education initiative.

"But the math initiative we had talked about is a math initiative that would provide for professional development for math teachers, fourth through sixth grade," board chairman Kim Burningham said. "That's what we advocate."

The board has taken no position on the voucher concept, initially pitched by Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, Burningham said.

The Utah Education Association also is cautious about what's being dubbed an education reform "omnibus bill."