JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — After a vote for an increased millage rate to pay for higher teacher salaries failed in 2017, Jefferson Parish residents decided Saturday it was time for public school workers to get a pay raise.
Voters hit the polls despite a stormy morning and the 50th annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival happening nearby to overwhelming pass a new millage plan, tweaked from the failed proposal a year and a half ago.
The new tax will pay for teachers to get a $3,300 boost in their base salaries, plus new benefits and other pay increases for all faculty and staff in the Jefferson Parish Public School System.
Despite a voter turn out of under 30,000, the measure to approve the 7.9-mill tax passed by a more than 3-to-1 margin. Voters narrowly chose against a similar measure to increase teacher pay with a 8.45-mill tax jump in November of 2017.
This time, Cade Brumley, Jefferson Parish Public Schools Superintendent, presented the tweaked proposal, which the school board approved in December 2018 to head to the public vote.
With it passed, teachers and other faculty can expect the following changes under the Competitive and Fair Compensation – The Future of Jefferson Parish Public Schools plan.
- The average teacher will see an increase of $3,360 in base salary
- Teachers will be eligible for additional stipends for working in exceptionally low socio-economic schools and/or schools with exceptionally high ELL populations
- Teachers will be eligible for additional stipends ($1,000) if certified in a recognized hard-to-staff content area
- Teachers will be eligible for up to $2,000 in performance pay
- The starting teacher pay will increase by $4,000-$9,000
- The average base pay for full-time support employees would increase in excess of $2,000
- The plan provides the equivalency of a $15 per hour floor for all employees
- The plan recognizes the value of school leadership as well as school leadership performance
- The plan eliminates inequities that currently exist within administrator pay
The total cost of the proposal is $32 million.
The tax will bring parish teachers from below the average salary in the state of $50,000 to slightly above that number, according to the proposal.
Jefferson Parish has the largest public school system in Louisiana.
According to a report by the New Orleans Advocate, the 7.9 millage rate means Jefferson Parish homeowners will pay an additional $79 a year for every $100,000 of the taxable value of their home. This taxable value does not include the first $75,000 in value protected by the homestead exemption.
Millage rates are used to calculate property taxes.
Also on Saturday's ballot, a vote to approve another millage tax to improve the Parish Coroner's Office facilities passed handily.
To read the public school system's full plan, click here