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Big changes are coming to public education. Will teachers guide those changes, or stand on the sidelines watching? Read More

Race to the Top (R2T) is essentially a contest in which states compete for federal dollars to improve public education. This “race” for a share of $4.3 billion in federal funds comes at a time when most states and many local school districts face difficult fiscal challenges. The Louisiana Federation of Teachers has spent many hours in very frank and sometimes spirited discussions over these details with Superintendent Paul Pastorek and his R2T team. We have read and reacted to numerous draft proposals. We made serious recommendations, many of which were accepted and written into the state’s Race to the Read More

The $247.9 million budget shortfall predicted for the coming year could easily be covered by proceeds from the state’s Tax Amnesty Program if Gov. Bobby Jindal were not so focused on further cuts to higher education and health care. Read More

(December 21, 2009) The state’s largest teacher union intends to be fully engaged in how a new federal education program’s funds will be used in Louisiana’s classrooms, Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan said today. Read More

Many of your discount and benefits can only be accessed by using your member identification number. Click here for more information or to request a replacement card. Read More

Like the mythological phoenix rising from the ashes, attacks on our public retirement systems are once again making news. At the request of Speaker of the House Jim Tucker (R-Terrytown), the joint Senate and House Committees on Retirement are meeting to discuss “reforming” the retirement incomes of teachers, school employees and other public servants. Read More

In “Man of La Mancha,” the Broadway musical adaption of Cervantes’ classic Don Quixote, the hero sings that his mission is “to fight for the right, without question or pause; to be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause.” Don Quixote was a lone individual, while the Louisiana Federation of Teachers is a union whose strength derives from the combined power of thousands of members. Yet our mission is the same — to fight for the right. Read More

Official complaints filed over mistreatment of teachers (Baton Rouge – October 1, 2009) A company that recruited foreign teachers to work in Louisiana schools is guilty of cheating those teachers out of thousands of dollars and holding them in virtual servitude, according to complaints presented to the Louisiana Federation of Teachers by international educators. Read More

In the Race to the Top Fund, the U.S. Department of Education is dangling a $4 billion carrot over schools across the United States, and more money for education is certainly a good thing...We have big concerns about the stick accompanying this $4 billion dollar carrot, however. Read More

Study says virtual charters are suspect for both financial and student performance reasons. (Baton Rouge – September 16, 2009) Considering the problems plaguing virtual or cyber schools in other states, Louisiana should proceed carefully before granting charters to schools that exist mainly on the Internet, Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan said today. Read More

Blue Ribbon consultant: “Getting a degree is not related to student achievement.” (Baton Rouge – September 12, 2009) If attracting and keeping the best teachers in our public schools is the goal of the state’s Blue Ribbon Commission for Educational Excellence, some information given to the panel on Thursday would send our state in the wrong direction, according to the Louisiana Federation of Teachers. Read More

Click here to send Gov. Jindal a message! The state budget includes more spending than the state can afford. Some items will have to be stricken, and the governor can issue line-item vetoes to keep the budget in balance. Among the items that could be vetoed are annual pay supplements for nationally certified teachers, school counselors, school psychologists school social workers, and school speech-language pathologists and audiologists. Taking away these supplements would be a shameful breech of trust. LFT is urging supporters to click on this link and tell Gov. Jindal to keep the supplements in the budget. Read More

"Lead, governor, we are prepared to follow." (Baton Rouge – June 11, 2009) In an unprecedented intervention, four former Louisiana governors met privately with Governor Bobby Jindal today, and then publicly stated their dissatisfaction with his planned higher education budget cuts. Read More

(Baton Rouge – June 3, 2009) By a five vote margin, the House of Representatives on Tuesday turned down a bill that, while touted as school board reform, was widely opposed by educators because it would have eroded a system of checks-and-balances between school boards and school superintendents. Read More

Baton Rouge teachers, and their colleagues around the state, won a big victory in court last week. For years, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board has required teachers and school employees who were injured on the job to submit to a drug test. Read More

Louisiana's elementary and secondary schools are in deplorable condition - an estimate by the American Federation of Teachers pegs the cost of needed repairs and new construction at some $7.3 billion. Two bills working their way through the legislature this year provide an answer to the problem. SB 90 by Sen. Cheryl Gray Evans (D-New Orleans) and HB 689 by Rep. Karen Carter Peterson (D-New Orleans) would set up and fund the Louisiana Statewide Education Facilities Authority. Read More

Join thousands of educators, students and friends of our schools, colleges and universities in mourning for public education on the first day of the legislative session. Wear something black to school or work on Monday, April 27! Read More

Teachers say DON'T teach to the test! An editorial in last Friday's Advocate quoted State Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek as saying, “Teaching to the test is a good thing, because what students need to learn is on the test.” That comment raises some eyebrows at the LFT office - we felt that most teachers believe teaching to the test is not the best way to impart knowledge, develop critical thinking skills and imbue in students a lifelong ambition to learn. Overwhelmingly, teachers opposed the idea of teaching to the test. Find complete results at EdLog, the LFT blog. Read More

(Baton Rouge – March 5, 2009) Proposed changes to Louisiana’s teacher tenure laws are based on a flawed study that wrongly identifies tenure as “complicit” in keeping “ineffective teachers” in the classroom, Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan said today, adding that LFT will fight efforts to water down laws that protect teacher rights. Read More

Follow the latest issues in public education, learn what the decision-makers are talking about, and see what education reporters are covering. Add your own thoughts and help create an online community of informed educators. Click this link to visit EdLog. Read More