Tougher laws for teachers than gun buyers
I am confused. A bill requiring background checks for people buying guns didn’t pass, but a bill requiring each Utah teacher to have a background check every five years and pay for it themselves does? I see the point of background checks for any new hires who will be working with children, but even teachers who have been in the same school for 30 years must pay to be fingerprinted and get a new background check every five years. What a waste of time and money. I guarantee if any teacher commits an illegal act, that school district would know about it within a few days. No one wants to expose children to people who shouldn’t be in the classroom, but one background check when the teacher is hired provides that protection. This is just one more example of how the once respected teaching profession is now under attack from all sides. It worries me that I don’t know of even one teacher who wants his/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 like this.