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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! 

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! 

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! 

HB 363 would make it so a supervisor (usually the school principal or assistant principal) would have to sit down with each teacher and discuss their SLTs. If they don't have this meeting, then SLTs can't be used in that teacher's evaluation.

Unfortunately, the language that mandated that teachers and administrators develop the SLTs "collaboratively" was removed because representatives from the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) and the Pelican Institute objected to that requirement. In some districts there isn't even a conversation about SLTs, so this is a step in the right direction. No longer could districts or principals just hand down SLTs without considering the needs of individual students or the input of teachers. Even with these amendments, this bill has a long road to go before it can become law.

Click here to ask your legislators to support HB 363!

Each year, the legislature adds additional work and trainings that our teachers are expected to take on, often without compensation. HB 510 by Rep. Mincey would end the pattern of ever-expanding trainings for educators. If the legislature wants to add a new required training for teachers, they have to provide compensation OR remove an existing training (one which requires at least the same amount of time as the new requirement).

If and when important issues come up, the legislature will still be able to require additional trainings for teachers, but with this legislation it wouldn’t be solely up to the district to “make it work.” The legislature would have to figure out how to fund the training (including compensation for the teachers) or they’ll decide which outdated training is no longer necessary.

Click here to send a letter to your legislators asking them to support HB 510!

One of the biggest themes we’re seeing in proposed legislation this year is the resurgence of school voucher programs. These voucher programs, retooled into “Education Savings Accounts” (ESAs), divide up the resources dedicated to public education in order to fund unvetted, and sometimes for-profit, corporations.

This year, there are at least five bills that would expand school voucher programs using the “education savings account” model. These bills have slight differences in how expansive the new voucher program would be, with HB 838 being the most extreme.

CLICK HERE TO SEND A LETTER TO YOUR LEGISLATORS

Legislators are finally waking up to the reality that our schools are in freefall. They are finally, beginning to see the teacher shortage for the crisis that it is.

But they are focused on coming up with "creative solutions" to pull in a few more teachers here and there. They are not yet realizing that solving this crisis will take an overhaul of Louisiana's educational policy. As a state we need to take a hard look at ourselves, at what we are currently doing that’s driving away our teachers. How can we change our current policies and practices to encourage teachers to stay? How can we reinstall joy and passion into the teaching profession?

As a teacher, you have the experience to inform the needed change.

What is it about your experience as an educator that most makes you think about leaving? What makes it difficult for you to encourage your students to enter this profession? 

Click here to tell your legislators what they can do to fix the teacher shortage, in your own words.

On Monday, 3/28 the Senate Committee on Retirement will consider Senate Bill 6 by Senator Price. This legislation will give all TRSL retirees a 2% cost of living adjustment to their monthly benefit.

✔️ Tell the Senate Retirement Committee to support this important legislation!

Click here to send them an email!

Our schools are in crisis, and it should be the top priority for every Louisiana legislator this session. Write to your Louisiana Representative and Senator and help them understand what learning really looks like in our schools and how they can improve the experience of every Louisiana student and teacher. It is time to move past the political status quo and truly prioritize student learning. ​

Click here to send a letter to your legislators asking them to prioritize student learning and end the failed education reforms.

It’s no secret that Louisiana’s teachers and school employees are underpaid. The average salary for a teacher in Louisiana in the 2019-2020 school year is 51,566, compared to $55,205 for the whole Southern Region. For our most experienced teachers, that gap jumps to almost $11,000. Overall, teachers in the south are paid 16% less than teachers nationwide and nearly 21% less than professionals with similar education levels.

If we don’t overcome the ongoing teacher shortage and properly fund education in this state, students will suffer the consequences. Tell your legislators, in your own words how important it is to fund teacher and school employee pay raises this year.