Teachers might not want to start counting their performance pay dollars just yet.

Utah State Office of Education officials have decided, for now, to delay distributing $20 million slated for performance pay this school year. The idea is to potentially give lawmakers time to decide whether to move forward with the program or use the $20 million for other needs in light of the state's dreary budget situation.

Teachers weren't scheduled to get the pay until the end of the school year anyway, meaning if lawmakers decide to ultimately go ahead with the program, nothing will change for educators. The State Office of Education, however, had originally intended to distribute the money to school districts before Dec. 1.

State education officials decided to hold onto the money, however, at least until the next State Board of Education meeting Dec. 16. The State Board will likely decide then whether to hold back the money longer to give lawmakers a chance to decide what to do during the next legislative session, which begins in January. The board has already recommended lawmakers ax the program to save money for other education needs.

"In a perfect world where we had loads of revenue no one would want to cut anything, but when you're in a budget cutting mode, everything is something to be looked at," said Larry Shumway, state deputy superintendent.

Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, who sponsored the bill that created the program, said he'd like to see lawmakers keep the commitment they made to districts and teachers by distributing performance pay at the end of this school year. But he thinks holding back that money for now is a wise move.

"This ensures that the Legislature and the governor have the flexibility to determine whether all or a part of that money is used to address the budget shortfall," Stephenson said.

Leaders of school districts, which in some cases, spent months putting together unique plans of how to spend the money, had mixed reactions to the delay. In all, 37 school districts and 50 charter schools planned to take part in the program.

Martin Bates, Granite assistant superintendent, said some teachers in his district stood to earn as much as $500 each in performance pay. He expressed concern over the uncertainty teachers now face.

"We've got thousands of teachers who are working to achieve performance goals that they've set based on the promise of this program," Bates said. "This is a difficult time for everybody all around, and I just hate to see one more thing happen to teachers."

Jordan School District Superintendent Barry Newbold and Salt Lake City School District Superintendent McKell Withers have also expressed concern.

"I would expect employees to be very disappointed if that money were pulled out midyear because they've been working toward that," Newbold said Nov. 21 after lawmakers discussed holding back the money at an education appropriations subcommittee meeting.

Withers said he hopes lawmakers make a decision about the program sooner rather than later.

Davis School District spokesman Chris Williams said Davis will continue with the program until it hears otherwise from lawmakers. Davis recently made a similar decision, he said, delaying $250 bonuses employees were to receive in December.

Dilworth Elementary School teacher Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh, who was part of the committee Salt Lake District's plan, said she'd like to see the money put into per pupil spending. Gallagher-Fishbaugh, Utah's Teacher of the Year, said she'd rather revisit performance pay in the future.

"If we're going to do performance pay it has to be in an economic setting where we can truly afford to do the kind of pay where we've deeply researched it, looked at what worked and developed teachers' skills," she said.

Utah Education Association (UEA) spokesman Mike Kelley said his group would not be sorry to see the program go. Though the UEA supports the idea of performance pay, it believes current performance pay plans wouldn't lead to quality teachers.

"In a lean year like this, I think if there's something that needs to be cut, those programs that are not going to lead to a quality teacher in every classroom would be appropriate to cut," Kelley said.