This story has been updated.

(Baton Rouge – May 7, 2014) The Lafayette Parish Superintendent of Schools probably has no legal authority to fine teachers who submit resignations before the end of the school year, says a legal expert consulted by the Louisiana Federation of Teachers.

Thanks in large part to a strong show of unity among public sector employees, an effort to silence the voices of teachers, school employees and other public servants was stopped in its tracks on Wednesday.

(Baton Rouge – April 18, 2014) This statement was released by Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan this morning:

The governor’s office has announced that a substitute bill, HB 987 by Rep. Jeff  Thompson (R-Bossier City), has been introduced and contains language aimed at resolving certain concerns about the process outlined in Act 1 (2012) for disciplining and dismissing teachers.

Click here - Ask lawmakers to support HB 1108

(Baton Rouge – April 10, 2014) Teachers could no longer be handcuffed and arrested at school for minor offenses if a bill by State Rep. Terry Landry (D-New Iberia) continues its successful path through the legislature.

A message from LFT President Steve Monaghan

Dear Colleague,

As the legislature returns to Baton Rouge for the 2014 regular session, let’s assess where we’ve been, where we are, and where we should be going.

Washington, D.C. lobbyists try to silence Louisiana’s public servants

Once again, some Louisiana lawmakers have introduced bills that would prohibit public employees from paying their professional organization dues through payroll deduction.

LFT President Steve Monaghan is on the air across Louisiana with the Federation's message for the upcoming legislative session.

More than 100 Louisiana Federation of Teachers members from New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, East Baton Rouge and other Louisiana cities and parishes turned out for an AFT town hall meeting at a downtown New Orleans hotel on Feb. 12. The town hall gave the members, as well as parents, community activists and others, an opportunity to hear from AFT President Randi Weingarten and Steve Monaghan, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, and to provide feedback on the Reclaiming the Promise program.

Find all things legislative on this Web page. The LFT Weekly Legislative Digest, the Federation’s legislative agenda, bills filed on our behalf and those we are following, and much more.

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers has endorsed a set of general principles that a number of public education stakeholders have pledged to honor in the upcoming legislative session.

“For the past six years, education reform has been defined by politicians, corporate profiteers and ideological extremists,” Federation President Steve Monaghan said. “The result has been an avalanche of unconstitutional laws, a raid on public education funds and baseless attacks on teachers in our public schools.