With $234 million in federal stimulus dollars headed to Nebraska's public schools, state teachers might finally see their pay ranking rise from among the lowest in the country.

The state teachers union says 148 of Nebraska's 250-plus school districts have settled negotiations on teachers' pay, with all of them seeing a raise in base pay. That's despite the nation's troubled economy.

Nebraska's average teacher salary for the 2007-08 school year was $42,885 -- 45th in the nation.

During this year's round of negotiations, teachers have been using a letter written by Gov. Dave Heineman calling for the stimulus money to go toward raising teacher salaries. Teachers in more than four dozen districts have seen a $1,000 or more increase in base salary.

The president of Nebraska's teachers union thinks negotiated raises for public school teachers this year will help boost the state's national pay ranking.

But Jess Wolf says that doesn't mean teachers will necessarily see more money in their pockets.

Wolf says even the most substantial raises will be mostly consumed by teachers' rising health care and retirement costs.

Wolf says the most-used health insurance plan among Nebraska teachers -- Educators Health Alliance -- is increasing premium rates an average of nearly 8 percent. That's in addition to increases in co-pays and deductibles.

He says teachers also are being forced to increase the amount they must contribute to their retirement accounts.

Wolf says those costs essentially put teachers right back where they started.