NEW ORLEANS — Raises across the board may be on the way for K-12 teachers in Louisiana.
BESE, the Louisiana Board of Secondary Education, says that in 2021, Louisiana was short more than 2,500 teachers.
Even with salary increases for this school year, there are still more than 1,200 teacher openings.
So now, a bigger paycheck may be coming to keep them in the classroom. Wednesday, BESE unanimously passed a new funding formula that includes $2,000 raises across the board for certificated teachers and $1,000 raises for support staff.
It also includes money for $1,000 stipends for in-demand teachers and those who work in high-need schools or teach in a critical shortage area. BESE also allocated more than one million dollars for apprenticeship programs.
With the prices of everything rising these days, BESE’s formula would also add a projected 21.5 million dollars to help with operational costs at Louisiana schools.
But this plan is different from that of Governor Joh Bel Edwards. Last month, he put forward a budget proposal that urged lawmakers to bump up teacher raises to $3,000.
So where do we go from here? The state capital.
By state law, lawmakers can approve or reject the BESE plan, but can’t make any changes.
And according to the Public Affairs Research Council, Republican lawmakers have already raised questions about the effects of long-term, new expenses.
The budget bills will likely be the last thing passed this legislative session, which ends June 8th.
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