On Tuesday, October 11th, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will hear public recommendations regarding the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) for next year (2023-2024). As we do each year, LFT will advocate for the largest raise possible for teachers and school employees.
Despite pay increases in recent years, Louisiana teachers and school employees remain below the Southern Regional Average and National Average for pay. In fact, recent state-wide pay raises have been canceled out by increases to insurance premiums from the Office of Group Benefits (OGB). This has contributed to our staffing shortages, leaving existing teachers and school employees forced to do more with less.
In order to ensure that state funding go directly to those who need it most, Louisiana's teachers and school employees, it is vital that additional funding increases go into level four of the MFP formula. The school boards, superintendents, and charter school advocates will generally push for funding to go into level one, because this gives administrators the greatest flexibility in how to use the state funding. Each school board and superintendent has discretion about whether or not to use level one funding for raises, or to put it towards something else. If increases are in level four, then that money must go towards raises for teachers and school employees.
Join us in asking that BESE put funding into level four of the MFP because that is the only way to ensure that teachers and school employees will get a raise next year.