But Huntsman and GOP legislative leaders brokered a $25 million, one-time deal to bring that WPU equivalent to a 6 percent hike. The deal, in SB281, gave $5 million for $1,000 teacher signing bonuses; $19 million for merit pay, for which districts will write proposals; and $1 million for American Board master teacher certification (though a House-Senate fight over that was expected to continue late Wednesday).

"He certainly went to bat for this," Huntsman spokeswoman Lisa Roskelley said. "I think districts have been given some flexibility with the (performance pay) money, and it's important to understand the fortuitous legislative session education has had."

House budget chairman Rep. Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley, understands school bosses prefer flexibility. But he says he has received praise from teachers for the raise.

"If you ask education (bosses), they would say, 'Put everything in the WPU and let us make the determination (on spending),"' Bigelow said. "And if the public wanted that, that's what we would do."

Education officials disagree with that last commen. "It's going to be a tough year" to run a school district, said Steve Peterson, who lobbies for the Utah School Superintendents Association and Utah School Boards Association.

"We appreciate all they do, and they've got a very tough row to hoe up here," he said. "And we have to appreciate what we get, be thankful for it. But there's still the challenges ahead."

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E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com; terickson@desnews.com