The 2008 budget boosts per-student funding 8 percent and includes a $2,500 raise and a $1,000 bonus for teachers. A last-minute infusion of $7 million will fund a smaller bonus for other full-time school workers.

Other goodies include $50 million for classroom computers, $50 million for school buildings, $7.5 million to expand optional all-day kindergarten programs, $1.2 million for teacher-education scholarships and $1 million for school nurses.

But several pet programs were left out of the funding bonanza. Educators' biggest gripe was not snagging even more dollars to help reduce class sizes. Lawmakers also withheld extra funding for activity-fee waivers for low-income students and a teacher professional-development program with higher pay scales for hard-to-fill math, science and special-education positions.

Of the roughly 100 other education bills considered this session, the most controversial was the nation's first universal private-school-voucher program, which the governor promptly signed and lawmakers amended. Lawmakers also passed the so-called Ritalin bill, which bars school personnel from suggesting psychiatric treatment for children. A bill outlining how to create smaller school districts evaded efforts to slow or derail the process, which many oppose.

Utah colleges and universities received a budget infusion but failed to slip out from under a mandated funding cap. A new law requires them to perform criminal-background checks on all faculty hires.

Utah Valley State College won permission and funding to convert to a university and Utah State University got an OK to offer specialty degree programs at several campuses throughout the state.

In the final hours of the session, legislators passed a compromise on gun laws at university campuses, which brings to an end a pending University of Utah federal lawsuit.

nstricker@sltrib.com