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Kansas Bill Would Narrow Talks Between Teachers And School Boards

Vitor Garcia, flickr Creative Commons

State lawmakers are considering a bill that would narrow negotiations between school boards and teachers.

The House Education Committee conducted a hearing on the bill Wednesday. It would remove 30 issues from a list of things over which the teachers' union and school boards would be required to bargain.

That would leave only salary and work hours on the annual bargaining agenda. Both sides would have to agree beforehand to discuss benefits or other issues.

Representatives of teachers and school boards testified against the bill. They say they'd agreed to a compromise last month that would allow each side to bring five issues to the negotiating table.

Republican representative Ron Highland, who is chairman of the committee, said he still believes the bill will speed up negotiations.

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