Anything that can be done to improve Utah teachers' wages is very important. But beyond that the legislature played itself as super-school board, leaving the day-to-day operations of schools in a lurch.

In addition to the teachers' $1,700/year legislative raise, they automatically get annual increases called "steps and lanes." Those will take about 2 percent of the legislatures' 2.5 percent bump in the WPU (the state's school funding mechanism). Employee health insurance and retirement fund costs are already estimated to take another 1 percent of the WPU.

That means the district's are forced to spend a 3 percent increase from their WPU budgets, but the legislature has only increased income by 2.5 percent. That means cutting district staff, reducing educational programs, and possibly increasing class size.

If the legislature had properly funded the WPU (instead of funding their pet projects) and let educational professionals fund the schools, teachers would get raises without jeopardizing many other educational supports.

Hear! Hear!

Shame on the "leaders" who pushed pet projects that had been defeated on the merits into an omnibus bill that no one could vote against.

I wish people posting would realize that the $1,700 is not per year. That is one time money (as was last years), legislators do not want to put that amount on the salary schedule, if they do the money will become permanent and we cannot have that. Funding the WPU at 2.5% is nothing. That money is gone before it even hits the salary schedule. Teachers $$ is good...thats laughable at best!