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Tell Senate Finance to Support the Raise!

On Sunday afternoon, the Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to deliberate the budget bill (HB 1) and they will determine how much money to allocate for teacher and school employee raises. If the Senate doesn’t fund raises in the budget, then teachers and school employees aren’t getting raises this year, so this is very important!

Click here to ask the Senate Finance Committee to support additional raises for teachers & school employees.

Tell Your Legislators: Use Additional Revenue to Increase the Raise!

On Monday, May 9th the Revenue Estimating Conference met to review and revise the Official Revenue Forecast. They recognized an additional $350 million in revenue for this year (and $104 million for next year).

Now is the time for legislators to send the MFP back to BESE so that they can increase the teacher and school employee pay raise. Neighboring states are passing larger raises and Louisiana can't afford to fall further behind!

Click here to send them a letter!

Tell the House Education Committee: Expand Employee Rights

On Tuesday, May 3rd the House Education Committee will hear two bills that seek to expand employee rights for teachers and school employees. Both of these bills would help boost morale, and extend basic rights to all of our employees. Use this form to ask the Committee to support House Bills 688 (Phelps) and HB 819 (Cox).

Send a Letter to the House Education Committee: No More Burdensome Regulations

Coming before the House Education Committee on Tuesday, May 3rd is a series of bills that might seem relatively modest on their own, but when taken together would dramatically increase teacher’s workload and attack their professional autonomy.

At the root of this legislation is a distrust for teachers. Politicians are trying to score political points on the backs of our teachers and it does nothing to help our schools and students succeed. We need legislators to eliminate burdensome legislation, not create more. Use this form to ask your legislators to oppose House Bills 356 (Amedee), HB 453 (Harris), HB 368 (Harris), and HB 837 (Horton).

Tell Your Legislators: Increase the Raise for Teachers & School Employees

On Thursday, April 21st, the Louisiana House of Representatives passed an initial budget. The $37 billion budget did include pay raises for teachers and school employees, but only $1,500 and $750. A lot will change between now and then. Some legislators are already pushing back against additional increases for teacher and school employee raises. Now is the crucial time for your legislators to hear from you.

Please take a moment to send a personalized message to your Louisiana State Representative and Senator, asking them to support a larger pay increase. Tell them, in your own words, why this is so important.

Tell Your Legislators: Bus Owner Operators Deserve a Raise!

HB 215 (M. White) & SB 57 (McMath) are nearly identical. They would change the formula and increase compensation for school bus owner-operators. Bus drivers are one of the most challenging positions to fill for Louisiana school districts. This legislation would be the first time since 1986 that the state has changed the formula and increased compensation for our owner-operators.

Click here to ask your legislators to support HB 215 & SB 57!

Tell Your Legislators: Extend Maternal Health Leave to All Employees

House Bill 819 by Rep. Cox would give extended maternal and infant health leave, that is currently available to teachers, to all school system employees. This bill is scheduled to come before the House Education Committee on Tuesday, April 19th.

Click here to ask the Committee to support HB 819.

Tell Your Legislators: Preserve Local Control of ITEP

Senate Bill 151 by Sen. Pope is a proposed constitutional amendment that would preserve local governments’ control over their own Industrial Tax Exemptions. In 2016, Governor Edwards gave local taxing bodies the authority to decide whether to grant exemptions on property taxes in their parishes. Prior to this executive order, these decisions about whether or not to grant corporations exemptions from local property taxes were made by an unelected board in Baton Rouge. Without this proposed constitutional amendment, another governor could undo Edward’s action and revert the state’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP) to its previous form, eliminating local control over local tax exemptions.

Click here to ask your Senator to support this important legislation!

Tell Your Legislators: Don't Eliminate Local Input in the Creation of Corporate Charter Schools

Senate Bill 145 by Senator Talbot was passed by the Senate Education Committee without objection on Thursday. Under this bill, a “charter school with a corporate partner” wouldn’t need to submit a proposal to their local school board. Instead, their proposal could go straight to BESE, eliminating the input of school boards and their constituents in the local community.

Under current law, if a corporate charter school applies to the local school board and their proposal is denied, they can appeal the decision to BESE. Charter schools already have the ability to go to the state board, but only after getting input from the local community.

Click here to ask your legislators to oppose HB 145!

Tell Your Legislators: Don't Privatize Public School Food Services

House Bill 986 by Representative Edmonds seeks to open the door to privatize school nutrition programs in Louisiana’s public schools. Despite Edmond’s testimony before the House Education Committee that his bill pertained to “snacks and the evening meal,” the legislation would in fact open the door to private, for-profit vendors to take over the management of school food programs. These private corporations would be able to reduce salary and benefits for employees, as compared to the food service workers employed by the school district. Their staff may not be required to fulfill the same background checks as public-school employees, and they would have a financial incentive to cut corners wherever possible, in order to increase their profit margins.

While local school districts would not be required to privatize their food services, these vendors will promise to cut costs and save the district money. In reality, these corporations seek to profit off of the public funding, which has been specifically designated to feeding Louisiana’s children.

Click here to ask your legislators to oppose privatizing public school food services!