Today is the first day of the Louisiana legislative session. This fiscal session will be very important for teachers and support staff all across the state and at LFT we will be watching closely. Each week throughout the session we’ll send out updates to keep you informed about what’s going on. This session is only 9 weeks long and we have a lot of work to do in order to protect our rights and ensure teachers and support employees get a raise – we need all hands on deck!
In order to ensure that Gov. Edwards’ proposed funding plan – which calls for $101 million in raises and $39 million in additional funding for local school districts – gets passed, make sure to tell your legislators to support it. Click here to write to your legislators. This raise ($1000 for teachers and $500 for support employees) is only a first step. We didn't get into this funding crisis overnight and it isn't going to be fixed overnight either, but we need our legislators to agree to funding increases this year, next year and every year until we surpass the Southern Regional Average. They need to hear from you!
What happens if your legislators don’t finally begin to respect and refund public education? What will you be willing to do? Click here to make your voice heard.
Last week the Louisiana Public School Coalition wrapped up our statewide Town Hall series. This joint effort by Louisiana Federation of Teachers, Louisiana Association of Educators, Louisiana Association of Principals, Louisiana Association of School Superintendents, Louisiana School Boards Association and the Louisiana Retired Teachers Association facilitated conversations with over 1,000 community members from all over Louisiana and their legislators on important issues which impact our public schools every day. Now we have some clear legislative priorities that unite educators in every level of our public school systems.
If you didn’t get a chance to attend one of the Town Halls, but you would like the Coalition to keep you in the loop about future events, sign up for updates at www.LouisianaPublicSchoolCoalition.org.