Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards outlined this week his legislative priorities for 2019. At the top of the list is a boost in salary for the state’s public school teachers.
The potential move would be made possible by next year’s gubernatorial and legislative elections along with an improved outlook of the state’s finances.
“As I talk to legislators in the House and the Senate, Democrats and Republicans and independents, there seems to be very strong bipartisan support,” said Governor Edwards.
While the governor seems convinced about bipartisan support on the issue, the Senate Finance Committee Chair is not as convinced. Although Senator Eric LaFleur (D-Ville Platte) called the issue “good news,” he said Tuesday, “today a single member of the House, sitting in for Speaker of the House Taylor Barras, refused to recognize the additional revenue. The speaker sent him as a proxy.”
Senator LaFleur added, “By not recognizing the new additional tax revenue, it will be difficult for us to move forward with the teacher pay raise.”
According to a report in USA Today Network, “Louisiana’s teachers were last paid at the Southern regional average about a decade ago.”
The report added, “Former Governors Mike Foster and Kathleen Blanco and the Legislature plowed millions into teacher pay raises, with Blanco and lawmakers approving a $2,375 salary boost in her final year as governor. Former Governor Bobby Jindal and lawmakers raised teacher pay in his first year in office by more than $1,000, but that was the last significant statewide increase.”
The average salary for teachers is currently $49,745. That figure, according to Governor Edwards, is $2,200 under the regional average.
The governor’s plan is to raise salaries for teachers and other certified personnel by $1,000 and salaries for school support staff by $500. According to the same report, the “proposal will be part of a three-year plan to raise salaries to the Southern average by 2022. The proposal for the upcoming budget year for the raises and other block grant increases to school districts, Edwards said, would cost about $135 million.”
One of the top teachers’ union in the state is voicing its support for the pay raise. “It’s time to begin making meaningful investments into the future of Louisiana’s children and to the dedicated teachers and paraprofessionals and school-related personnel in whom we trust our children,” said Larry Carter, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers.
Also voicing potential support for the plan is House Education Committee Chair Representative Nancy Landry (R-Lafayette). She told The Advocate her support is based on whether or not there would be a tax increase.
“I haven’t talked to anybody who would oppose a pay raise,” Representative Landry said.
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TONY MARKS Associate Editor