AI-generated summary, not yet reviewed by Better Utah staff. Please consult the bill text.

Utah's Excellence in Education and Leadership Supplement is a five-year pilot program that pays top-performing teachers annual bonuses of $2,000 to $10,000 (doubled at high-poverty schools) based on student growth data, but currently only teachers in school districts or charter schools that formally opt into the program can qualify. This bill would create a "self-nomination pathway" allowing teachers in non-participating districts to apply directly if they teach a subject with statewide standardized testing, score in the top 40% of value-added growth measures statewide among teachers outside participating districts, and have no pending disciplinary action on their license; the Center for the School of the Future at Utah State University would identify and invite these teachers, evaluate them using only statewide growth-score data (without any additional local criteria), and certify winners directly to the state school board. Under this process, the teacher's employing district or charter school would serve only as a fiscal agent to pass along the award through payroll, without needing to adopt any of the program's other administrative requirements, and would not receive administrative funding for doing so. The bill also sets specific 2026–2027 deadlines for notifying, inviting, and paying self-nominated teachers, and makes related technical adjustments to definitions, reporting requirements, and funding allocations to accommodate this new pathway alongside the existing district-based program.