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Week 8: Your raise goes back to the House
This week the Senate approved raises for teachers and school employees! In the last week of the Session, it will all come down to the House.
On Monday, the Senate passed SCR 2, which is the legislative instrument for the MFP. After some back and forth with the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) over the amount of the MFP proposal, the Senate ultimately decided to pass the MFP in its original form.
The MFP unanimously approved by the Senate this week includes a $2,000 raise for teachers and $1,000 for support staff, as well as differential payment stipends for certain teachers in certain circumstances. While this proposal is not the full $3,000/$1,500 raise proposed by the Governor, it is far better than the $0 allocated for teacher and school employee raises in the House’s budget passed earlier this year.
Now the MFP (SCR 2) will go to the House for approval.
In order for educators to receive a raise, the House must pass the MFP proposal AND the House and Senate must agree on a final budget that fully funds the MFP.
Tell the House to Support the MFP and Fund Raises in the Budget!
The Senate has passed an MFP with raises for teachers and school employees!
The Senate is also expected to pass a budget (HB 1) this week, that fully funds the MFP. In order for teachers and school employees to receive a raise, the MFP (SCR 2) must pass through the legislative process in the House and the Senate AND the legislature must fully fund the MFP in the final version of the budget (HB 1). Now it's up to the House.
The House has ONE WEEK to do the right thing and vote to pass the MFP with a $2,000 raise for teachers and $1,000 for support staff AND fund the raise in the budget.
There's an Agreement on Your Raise!
Legislators on both sides of the aisle are now saying that we’ve reached a tentative agreement to give teachers a $2,000 raise and support staff $1,000 – but at this point nothing is final.
A lot can change in a matter of hours, so we must continue to put pressure on Senators to support pay raises for teachers and school employees.
Week 6: The Legislature Has More Money, What Does That Mean for Raises?
This week, two major things happened with your raise, and two actions are needed to make sure you receive a raise.
#1: The Legislature has more money to spend in this year’s budget.
The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) had their long anticipated meeting on Thursday. After hearing from the state’s economist, the REC adopted conservative revenue projections, recognizing $806 million in new general fund revenue.
#2: The Senate Education Committee rejected SCR 2.
On Thursday, the Senate Education Committee finally considered SCR 2, the legislative instrument for the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP), which is the K-12 funding formula. The MFP, along with the state budget (HB 1), is what will determine the teacher and school employee pay raise. They voted to reject the MFP proposal as it originally stands and send it back to BESE.
We need you to take TWO actions.
Week 5: The Senate Is Deciding Whether or Not to Give You a Raise
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:
Week 4: The House Takes Your Raise Out of Their Budget
The Louisiana House of Representatives has passed a budget that does not include any funding for teacher and school employee raises.
Despite outcry from our state’s educators, the Louisiana House of Representatives chose to prioritize pet projects over raises for teachers and school employees. They are using a complicated debt repayment system: they want to pay off a portion of their UAL debt and have you believe that your school districts will use those savings to give teachers and school employees a raise. To be clear, there are $0 allocated to teacher and school employee pay raises in the budget that the House passed this week.