But there s a catch.
And that s putting pressure on the Salt Lake City School District to provide options for in-person learning in all its schools by Jan. 19.
In its vote to recommend the Utah Legislature appropriate $121 million to a one-time COVID-19 educator assistance stipend $1,500 for teachers and $1,000 for school staff the Executive Appropriations Committee included a last-minute tweak to require the payment only goes to teachers offering in-person learning or some combination of in-person and virtual learning before Jan. 19, 2021.
That language proposed by House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, in the final moments before the committee was set to vote appeared to have caught some Democratic lawmakers off guard, who said it was unfairly targeting the Salt Lake City School District and punishing teachers for a school board decision in an area that has been a hot spot for COVID-19 cases.
Utah legislative committee approves $1,500 stipend for teachers in districts offering in-person learning
heraldextra.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from heraldextra.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Tribune Editorial: Committee vote wrongly punishes Salt Lake City teachers
No matter what anyone thinks of school board decisions, teachers shouldn’t suffer.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Meadowlark Elementary School teacher John Arthur interacting with his students on Zoom, in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. Arthur is working through the kinks of teaching his 6th grade kids, many of which don t have internet access, online. He was named the Utah Teacher of the Year.
By The Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board
| Dec. 17, 2020, 4:56 p.m. | Updated: 11:53 p.m.
Leaders of the Utah Legislature are not the only people who wish the Salt Lake City School District’s classrooms were open for in-person learning. Those who think it is past time for education to go back to normal include many parents (including those who have taken the matter to court), some students and probably not a few teachers.
KSL TV
SALT LAKE CITY – In the nine months since schools closed, one of the widest-felt impacts of losing in-person school, has meant thousands of children losing two meals every day.
When schools closed in March at the start of the pandemic, more than in-person learning stopped. So did in-person lunch, and in some cases, breakfast, for thousands of Salt Lake students. The national school lunch program is so important to so many students and so many families, said concerned parent Jamie Slack.
Slack has worked for 15 years with the U.S. Agriculture Department, the agency that oversees the school lunch program. She s also a parent in the Salt Lake City School District.
Lawmakers planning to pay $121 million to educators for keeping Utah schools functioning © Provided by KUTV Salt Lake City
The Utah Legislature is planning to reward educators for extraordinary service during the COVID-19 pandemic with money, but it may exclude a Salt Lake City district.
Teachers will get a $1,500 stipend while other education employees will get $1,000. A representative for House Speaker Brad Wilson characterized the stipend targeted for in-person education as a strong suggestion to back to the classroom for the Salt Lake City School District, that has offered virtual-only learning. Wilson was not available to speak directly with 2News.
Lawmakers foresee an 1.5% increase in revenue in 2021 and a 6.5% increase in 2022, and the Executive Appropriations Committee recommends the Legislature send $121 million of this new revenue to a one-time COVID-19 stipend for K-12 teachers and school staff who are making great sacrifices to keep schools open and educate
vimarsana © 2020. All Rights Reserved.