Topeka ? The State Board of Education has rejected a proposal that would have required Kansas educators to pay a $50 fee and have their fingerprints kept on file.

The board voted 6-4 Tuesday to reject a requirement that some 40,000 educators who got their licenses before 2002 would have to have their fingerprints on file with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. The requirement would have applied only to licensed staff, not other school district employees.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the proposal, if it had been also approved by the attorney general, would have provided instant notification to the state Department of Education if a licensed teacher had been arrested or entered into a diversion agreement for an offense that could lead to the loss of their teaching license.