Some Utah teachers might have to wait up to two more years to earn career status if a bill that gained committee approval Wednesday passes next legislative session.

Now, Utah teachers are on provisional status for their first three years, meaning they can be fired at the end of the school year for any reason without explanation. After the three years, administrators decide whether to let them go or grant them career status, meaning they can only be terminated after a much more extensive due process.

The legislative Education Interim Committee, however, approved a bill Wednesday that would allow school districts to extend that provisional status for up to two more years, for a total of five years. Bill proponents say the change would give school leaders more flexibility in deciding which teachers should be let go after three years and which just need more time to develop. Others, however, say the bill would only place more stress on teachers and keep ineffective teachers in the classroom longer.

The Utah School Boards Association and the Utah School Superintendents Association asked Rep. Ronda Rudd Menlove, R-Garland, to run the bill to give school leaders more flexibility, especially in rural school districts, where it can be difficult to find teachers of certain subjects.

"This is not punitive," said JoDee Sundberg, an executive officer of the school boards association and member of the Alpine School Board. "This is not to attack teachers but to ensure our teachers have the best opportunities for professional development and training before they're given career status."

But teachers union representatives are wary of the bill, saying it could do more harm than good.

"We feel like if a principal is doing their job and due diligence they should be able to recognize whether an individual is able to be a quality teacher within the first three years," said Kory Holdaway, government relations director for the Utah Education Association. "To extend that only puts that individual and the students they teach in a position that, frankly, we have some concerns with."

He said it could also cost districts more to provide teachers training for an additional two years and hurt teacher morale further in this time of budget cuts.

"Being under the microscope for an additional two years on a provisional status or as an at-will employee, there's some real angst I think the teachers would have," Holdaway said.

Rita Heagren, with the American Federation of Teachers Utah, said the bill is unnecessary and could be harmful to students.

Both Heagren and Holdaway said state law already allows for such extensions. Now, state law doesn't specifically describe how districts can extend provisional status, but it doesn't disallow it either, meaning some districts already extend provisional status for a fourth year, said Carol Lear, an attorney with the Utah Board of Education. The bill, however, would explicitly allow districts to extend the status up to two additional years.

Six lawmakers on the committee opposed the bill, but they were outvoted.

"When we look at other professions that I wish teachers were compensated like and respected like ... they are all provisional their whole career as far as I know," said Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper. "I would welcome it to even be more than five years."