The major stakeholders in Louisiana Public Education have joined forces to co-host a series of town hall meetings across the state over the next several weeks. The Louisiana Public School Coalition include the Louisiana Association of Educators (LAE), Louisiana Association of Principals (LAP), Louisiana Association of School Superintendents (LASS), Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT), Louisiana School Boards Association (LSBA), and the Louisiana Retired Teachers Association (LRTA).
The coalition collectively represents the interests of tens of thousands of education professionals, paraprofessionals, employees, lawmakers and retirees, and plans to host eleven meetings across the state from February 21 through April 4, 2019.
We will highlight important points of interest such as state funding of school systems, teacher/school employee pay, and educator recruitment/retention which are to be addressed in this year’s Legislative Session. All teachers, school support professionals, principals, school board members, retired teachers and superintendent groups are encouraged to attend.
Louisiana is plagued with a myriad of challenges surrounding public school systems from lack of funding for capital improvements to facilities to the loss of a third of certified teachers over the past seven years. We hope to strengthen the relationships and communication among all involved stakeholders in Louisiana’s education systems by sharing ideas and developing collaborative relationships within our communities.
These town halls will spur solutions-oriented discussions with legislators and members of the public around funding, teacher/employee pay raises, and recruitment and retention of teachers. We plan to walk away from the meetings with a set of policy recommendations that they can rally behind and push to become laws this session.
Questions may be submitted before the meeting at http://bit.ly/LATownHallQuestions