Proposed teacher and support staff pay raises are headed to the Legislature.
This morning, BESE members unanimously approved the proposal — $1,000 for teachers and $500 for support employees – in roll-call vote designed to show unwavering support for the raises.
Gov. John Bel Edwards calls the proposal “a good faith down payment” on a plan to bring Louisiana’s teacher pay in line with the Southern regional average for teacher salaries. Regional and national average teacher salaries are more than $1,000 higher than Louisiana’s average pay.
Edwards has said the raises are his number one priority going into the 2019 legislative session.Tuesday, he urged members of BESE’s Administration and Finance Committee to approve the raises and the per-pupil funding increased needed to cover the cost.
Today, BESE also approved a request to increase MFP by 1.375 percent this year to fund those raises and provide more money for classroom materials and supplies. Louisiana hasn’t put any additional money into the per-pupil funding formula since 2009, says Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Larry Carter.
We already know there’s opposition to these raises! Tell us how you can help us get them passed: https://goo.gl/forms/