It’s Teacher Appreciation Week!
We are so grateful to all the teachers and school employees who show up for their students each day. Unfortunately, the Louisiana House of Representatives doesn't feel the same way.
Last week, they removed the pay raise for teachers and school employees from the state budget. Despite outcry from our state’s educators, they chose to prioritize pet projects and a marginal increase in debt repayment instead of giving a raise to our teachers and school employees. Now, the budget is in the Senate and they are debating what to do next.
The money is there, but so far, your legislators have refused to make teachers and school employees a priority. In order for you to receive a raise, the legislature must:
Remember, the legislature can not change the MFP proposal in SCR2. BESE sent the legislature an MFP proposal that includes a $2,000 raise for teachers and $1,000 for support staff. In order to increase our raise to $3,000 and $1,500, the Senate Education Committee must send the proposal back to BESE for amendments and then pass it through the process.
If either of those things don't happen, teachers and school employees won't see a raise this year.
Lawmakers entered this legislative session with a historic $1.6 billion surplus. Next week, the Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) will convene to re-examine the state’s revenue projections for this fiscal year and next. It is widely expected that the REC will recognize hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue, which would give the legislature an even larger pot of money to work with as they allocate funding in the state budget.
We have the money. The only question is whether or not teacher and school employee pay is a priority to our legislators.
Now is the moment when the Senate must hear from all of Louisiana’s teachers and school employees. There are only four weeks left in the legislative session. Tell your colleagues, friends, and family to write to the Senate too! We must stand united!
Use this form to send a letter to the entire Senate with one click.
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