Members of the Hawaii State Teachers Association have been given an exceptionally good contract offer that’s up for a ratification vote on Thursday.

A thumbs-up from the public school teachers should smooth the way to Gov. David Ige’s stated objective: a statewide network of more individually empowered campuses, one that would enlist teachers and principals in the move away from the current, more top-down model of education administration.

But it also should set off some alarm bells about the fiscal ripple effects of this contract, which is sure to result in other public-employee unions seeking at least a matched deal of their own.

Just by itself, the proposed HSTA contract costs total $115.4 million over its four-year term for its 13,500 members. It combines pay-grade step increases and across-the-board 3.5 percent raises in alternating years.

And that has prompted some in the state Capitol to worry that high-priced contracts will put a damper on other state programs and services.

The accord makes sense from the standpoint that Ige needs to get the next stage of school reform — marked by the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act and his own “blueprint” for a a less centralized education system — started on the right footing. And this means having the teachers feeling supported.

But it also came as a surprise to those more aligned with the early negotiation rhetoric. Ige’s opening bid was a set of 1 percent annual bonuses, an offer that HSTA President Corey Rosenlee dismissed as “unacceptable.”

In the end, the deal up for the vote amounts to multiyear pay raises totalling 13.6 percent. Almost as stunning: The state has increased its share of health premiums, up to 59 percent in the most popular plan. That’s a real turnaround.

If the administration had to give in on raises, Rosenlee said, the union’s concession was on elements such as the staffing and working conditions for the public school special education teachers. These teachers have long pressed for a capping of the students assigned to each of them or increased resources and staffing to manage the workload.

They have expressed disappointment in getting neither, and Rosenlee said the union simply must maintain pressure on the state Department of Education to improve conditions in this area.

Rosenlee said there are already too few of these teachers, adding that the state is in “noncompliance” with federal mandates on special-education services — what’s known as the Felix consent decree. And in fact, the DOE must make sure schools stay on the right side of federal obligations to special-needs students.

Even with this shortcoming, the membership would be foolish to reject this pact. Ige here is telegraphing the kind of priority he’s placing on education, regardless of the failed legislative initiative to create a dedicated revenue stream for education. Lacking that kind of funding security, this is quite a commitment.

The headaches surely will come later. Ever since then-Gov. Neil Abercrombie agreed to “favored nation” status for the teachers’ sister union, the Hawaii Government Employees Association, generous deals have tended to drive up contract costs for the other public worker unions.

On June 30, the contracts for HGEA, United Public Workers and the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly will be up for renewal, and lawmakers are rightly concerned about what other programs might feel the ax in order to balance the books.

Focusing back on the teachers’ decision at hand: Faculty members should accept what is undeniably a good deal. If it does “stabilize the teaching force,” as Rosenlee hopes, that would benefit students and families, too.

Now they, as well as the taxpayers at large, have the right to expect results from this public investment.