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If any teacher would benefit from performance pay, it likely would be Brian LeStarge.

The Churchill Junior High School science teacher is beloved by students, known for his hands-on approach and won a Huntsman Award for Excellence in Education this year. But LeStarge isn't sure yet whether he would want to participate in a performance pay program.

"It would be nice to pay people more based on their performance," LeStarge said. "It's just so hard to come up with a solution that really works. Education is the softest science there is."

LeStarge and many other Utah teachers might have to make up their minds soon. Some of Utah's largest school districts last week rolled out plans detailing how they would like to pay teachers for performance in the classroom next school year. Many are trying to get a piece of the $20 million lawmakers set aside for performance pay for one year only. The Utah State Board of Education must decide whether to approve each plan by August.

Lawmakers see the endeavor partly as an experiment that could help them create a long-term, statewide performance pay system to help boost student achievement and teacher retention. Two groups of state leaders are now working on long-term plans.

District leaders, however, have had mixed emotions about approving the short-term, one-year plans.

Some states have taken years to develop performance pay plans, but Utah districts had less than three months. The results of those hurried efforts, so far, show a range of approaches.

Some plans would reward entire school staffs, others mostly just teachers.

Some base extra pay on test scores, others on parent surveys, others on evaluations and yet others on different factors. Some would give all successful teachers the same amount of extra pay, and others would dole out different amounts.

Many teachers share LeStarge's mixed feelings about the plans.

Bill Broderick, a math and computer science teacher at Bingham High School in the Jordan district, said the idea of performance pay is misguided.

"How many things are [lawmakers] going to try before they realize class size matters?" Broderick asked.

But Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh, a second-grade teacher at Dilworth Elementary School in the Salt Lake district, said she doesn't understand why any teacher would oppose performance pay if the ultimate goal is to focus on student achievement.

"Anything that looks at improving student learning is worth looking at," said Gallagher-Fishbaugh, who sat on the committee that created Salt Lake's plan. She did say, however, she wishes districts had more time to create plans and hopes lawmakers understand these plans shouldn't necessarily be the basis of longer-term ones.

Granite School District Assistant Superintendent Martin Bates also wishes districts had more time to develop comprehensive plans. But he's glad to see an attempt to reward rather than penalize teachers in this age of No Child Left Behind.

He said he looks forward to seeing what other districts have devised.

"We've got 40 districts that will have gone in 40 directions," Bates said.

That was exactly the point of the law, said Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, who sponsored the bill that set aside the $20 million. He acknowledged that districts were rushed but said lawmakers felt this was a good use of $20 million.

"We thought it would be a good thing for school boards to use their flexibility in arriving at performance measures they felt would be most meaningful," Stephenson said.

District plans are due to the state board before July 1.