The 2023 Louisiana Legislative Session begins on Monday, April 10th and ends on Thursday, June 8th. During these nine weeks, legislators will make decisions and pass laws that impact you and your students. It is vitally important that the experiences of teachers and school employees be centered in these discussions.
You know what your school and your students need to succeed and we want to bring that perspective to the Capitol, even when you can’t be there in person.
The Louisiana Federation of Teachers and School Employees is rolling out a campaign in the lead up to this year’s legislative session: Six Weeks Six Surveys. Each week, we will send you a survey focused on a particular topic that we know to be important to many of Louisiana’s teachers and school employees. Each survey should take less than 10-minutes to complete.
Your responses to these surveys will be anonymous. We will use the results to inform our legislative agenda and policy positions throughout the legislative session, as well as our political endorsements in the fall.
Week 1: Compensation
Last year, Louisiana passed a $1,500 raise for teachers and $750 for school support staff. It was an historic raise by Louisiana standards, but still significantly lower than increases passed in neighboring states. At the same time, LDOE passed a bill that forces teachers to pay a fee for a duplicate background check and the Office of Group Benefits increased premium costs, again.
Meanwhile, other Southern states are taking action to ensure they have qualified teachers and support staff in their schools. This year, Arkansas is proposing a $10,000 raise, which would bring the minimum teacher pay to $50,000/year. Florida is proposing record spending for education, including raising the starting pay for teachers to $65,000/year. Texas has proposed a $15,000 pay raise for teachers and a 25% increase for support staff. Last year, Alabama passed a raise nearly $2,000 larger than what was passed in Louisiana and Mississippi approved an increase averaging over $5,000.
LFT is already working to pass another pay increase. One that will actually make a difference in the lives of our teachers and school employees, but we want to hear from you!
Low pay is not the only thing driving teachers and school employees away from our classrooms, but it is an important factor. We want to hear about your experience. How have recent increases to insurance costs impacted your take home pay? How has inflation and increased costs of living impacted your ability to stay in this job?
Take the survey today:
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Richard Baker at rbaker@lft-aft.org or 225.293.1037