"I think most teachers are hopeful," said Jennie Firth-Brasfield, a French and Spanish teacher at Logan's Mount Logan Middle School. "But I'm not planning any vacations."

The Legislature nearly always talks of pay raises, but the spring school budgeting process often has spread funding increases among other programs, diminishing the amount available for salary boosts. Negotiations can drag through the summer before teachers know their financial fate.

But this year legislators and teachers' unions agreed that given the state's budget surplus, Utah educators deserve more money. To that end, lawmakers wrote legislative language awarding specific raise and bonus amounts for teachers and staff. Half of this year's 8 percent addition to the per-student "weighted pupil unit," which pays for school operating costs, came in that bill.

Skeptics have questioned whether the Legislature can or should tell districts what to pay teachers, but few believe districts would dare spend the money elsewhere. Besides, the legislation requires districts to report how they spent the "salary adjustment" money to the Utah Office of Education, which will pass word to the Legislature's school budget committee.

Members of that committee hope the mandated raises and bonuses will streamline this year's district budgeting and contract negotiation process.

''If I were on the school board, I would say, 'Teachers, you're done, we're not giving you any more money,' '' Rep. Brad Last, co-chairman of the Joint Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee and a former Washington School District board member, said when he presented the bill to Republican colleagues in February. "And [I'd] use the rest of the money to take care of all the other increases."

But teacher unions have no intention of stepping away from the bargaining table.

"Absolutely not," said Courtney White, director of research and bargaining for the Utah Education Association. "There still will be negotiations. There is still 4 percent of the WPU on the table and out of that money, negotiations will take place with respect to health insurance, [raises for experience and] salary increases for classified folks."

So despite record funding increases for public education this year, budgeting may not be any easier. District superintendents and business administrators weren't available for comment Monday because they are discussing budgets at a St. George conference. But so far, the mood seems less than jubilant.

"They're really struggling on trying to deal with classified employees' [raises], increased cost of energy and all those kinds of things," said Steve Peterson, a director for the Utah School Boards and Utah School Superintendents associations. "They're telling me it's tough."

Despite those challenges, Jordan School District Superintendent Barry Newbold is optimistic teacher salary negotiations will go well.

"In terms of salary issues [for certified teachers], it's much more straightforward this year than in years past," said Newbold, who leads the state's largest school district.

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* NICOLE STRICKER can be contacted at nstricker@sltrib.com or 801-257-8999.

What the bill promises:

* $2,500 for all teachers, educators and specialists who have earned a "satisfactory" job rating, regardless of experience. Amount will vary with individual paycheck deductions and should average roughly $2,000.

* $1,000 bonus for all teachers, educators and specialists who have earned a "satisfactory" job rating. Again, net bonus will be lower.

* $360 bonus for nonteaching "classified" employees (including secretaries, janitors, bus drivers and cooks). Taxes and part-time status will trim the bonus to $300 or less.

How much of a raise is $2,500?

* The Legislature's absolute raises benefit younger teachers more than traditional percentage bumps. A first-year teacher making roughly $25,000 a year would get a 10 percent raise, but for teachers boasting more degrees or years on the job, $2,500 looks more like a 5 percent increase. Source: Utah Education Association