This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
As a retired teacher, I am confused.
A bill requiring background checks for people buying guns didn't pass Congress, but a bill requiring each Utah teacher to have a background check every five years and pay for it themselves does pass the Utah Legislature?
I see the point of background checks for any new hires, but even teachers who have been in the same school for 30 years must pay to be fingerprinted and obtain a new background check every five years. What a waste of time and money.
If any teacher commits an illegal act, that school district would know about it within days. No one wants to expose children to people who shouldn't be in the classroom, but one background check when a teacher is hired provides that protection.
This is just one more example of how the once-respected teaching profession is under attack. It worries me that I don't know of even one teacher who wants his or her children to become teachers.
For the sake of our children and the future of our society, we need to be doing things to attract the best and the brightest into the teaching profession, not scaring them off with stupid laws.
Tanie Worthen
Ferron