Information is from the Louisiana Federation of Teachers.
For more info, see la.aft.org.
It’s time to stand up for Louisiana students and educators!
Right now, the Louisiana legislature is moving bills through the state house that will hurt public education in the state for years to come.
- ❌Dues deduction bills: Takes away your freedom to spend your paycheck as you choose.
- ❌Voucher bills: Our school districts are subject to losing funding to these voucher programs, seriously impacting our public education system.
- ❌There is also talk of a constitutional convention which would severely restrict the ability for education dollars to be used for students and to make our communities better. HB 800 was up for discussion this week. It sets the stage for a Constitutional Convention. Few details are known at this point, but elected officials have been clear that K-12 funding protected in the current constitution is a target. The author of the bill said that he will not move the bill out of committee this week.
It's time to stand up for your rights and the futures of the children in our state.
Public funds for public schools
Diverting public dollars to private schools and other programs through Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) or universal vouchers without fully funding public schools is fiscally irresponsible and would be devastating to our public school system. The fiscal note for the ESAs, tutoring bills, and other school choice programs tell us that even your stipend is not a certainty.
If these bills pass, teachers and staff would actually receive less income next year, and in the future, than they do currently. Voucher bills take away resources from teachers, staff, and students, and would be creating an entirely new cost to taxpayers with little to no oversight and accountability.
- ❌HB745 (LA GATOR Program) would replace the current voucher system for low-income students in low-rated schools, opening it up for any student, regardless of parental income, whether or not the child is enrolled in a public school, and allow stipends parents could spend on tuition, tutoring, online classes and more.
- ❌SB 313 is a similar ESA bill which creates the Louisiana Giving All True Opportunity to Rise (LA GATOR) Scholarship Program to provide educational savings accounts for parental choice in K-12 education.
Don't let them silence our voices!
In an effort to silence our voice and rights, several bills were introduced to strike our source of funding. These bills are clearly aimed at stopping us from taking a civil, principled stand against current anti-public education and anti-public services legislation.
Organizations that support these schemes are financed by deep-pocketed corporations and individuals. Their funding would not be affected by this bill.
Unions, like LFT, represent the interests of workers who dedicate their professional lives to the children of the state. In a civil, professional manner, LFT brings your concerns to the legislature.
Freedom of speech and freedom of association are crucial to a representative form of government. Prohibiting the payroll deduction of union dues and taking away your ability to advocate stifle those freedoms and ultimately weaken our democracy.
The following bills are scheduled to be heard in the Labor and Industrial Relations Committee on Thursday.
- ❌HB 571 and 572 (CREWS): These bills silence your voice, taking away your ability to advocate for the things that you’ve told us impact you the most–fair pay, workload, smaller class sizes, school safety, and other resources that benefit student learning.
- ❌HB 712 (CREWS): This bill would make it more complicated for you to support causes you care about and limit your ability to advocate for better conditions for yourself and your students.
- ❌HB 956 (CREWS): This bill would make it harder for you to make decisions as part of a group. Secret ballots would prevent you from speaking openly about issues and deciding on important matters together, potentially weakening your ability to stand up for your rights and the rights of your students.
- ❌HB 919 (CHENEVERT) Under current law, members of unions like ours can opt to pay their dues through payroll deduction. This is neither a special privilege nor a burden on taxpayers. It is a service that is available to credit unions, insurance companies and other recognized vendors, as well as unions. Because most members of LFT and other public sector unions pay their dues through payroll deduction, this bill is an obvious threat to the very existence of advocacy organizations.
Students progress, teachers should benefit
Last session, your raise was turned into a stipend, with a permanent raise promised this session. This session you were promised an extension of the stipend because legislators said the upcoming fiscal cliff made a permanent raise unsustainable. But lawmakers did not hesitate to file bills that have anticipated costs far above what a permanent raise would cost.
Right now, all items with a fiscal note, including tutoring and school choice bills are competing for the same shrinking pot of State General Funds. This week, legislators stated on record that more money will be recognized when the Revenue Estimating Committee meets in May and that this money should be considered for their favored programs.
IF THERE IS ADDITIONAL REVENUE, WHY IS A PERMANENT RAISE NOT ON THE TABLE?
❌ HCR 21 is pending house appropriations for approval of the MFP formula for FY 2024-2025 which DOES NOT include a permanent raise for teachers and support staff. LFT has consistently advocated and fought for a permanent raise to be included in the MFP.
✅ SB 205 will be heard in Senate Finance due to the potential cost to local districts if teachers are required to fulfill duties during planning time or outside their primary responsibilities. Now, districts must make a decision about whether or not what they are asking of teachers is worth paying them for when the reality is that our schools are run on unpaid overtime!
New and expanded tutoring programs also expand teacher workload
While LFT supports the additional help that tutoring provides, it should not be put ahead of the teachers who are actually responsible for the gains Supt. Brumley continues to tout. Based on usage data from the first implementation year of the Steve Carter Literacy Program, less than 0.8% of eligible students are expected to request participation.
Legislators alluded to an increase in the Revenue Estimating Committee forecast that would make State General Funds available to fund tutoring programs that had fiscal notes, asking for their bill to stay in Appropriations until the forecast was updated. If additional money is recognized, why aren't we using those funds to pay the teachers and staff as promised?
- ⚠️HB 244 Proposed legislation expands the purpose of the Steve Carter Literacy program to include mathematics, changes the name to the Steve Carter Education Program, and increases the maximum payment for eligible expenses from $1,000 to $1,500.
This bill requires teachers and administrators in grades 4-12 to complete 55-60 hours of Literacy Foundations Training in order to provide tutoring services in reading. K-3 teachers and administrators were required to complete this training by the beginning of this school year.
In 2023, a law was passed that requires math teachers in grades 4-8 to complete training in numeracy skills instruction by the beginning of the 2025-26 school year. Testimony provided by the LDOE stated the length of the numeracy PD would be 55-60 hours. HB 244 includes K-3 and 8-12 math teachers in the required training.
Because of the cost of training, implementation of the program and the cost of the tutoring vouchers, the author of this bill asked that the bill be held in Appropriations to see if funding will be available once the Revenue Estimating Committee meets in May.
- ⚠️HB 267 would require public schools to provide three numeracy assessments that measure student development which is expected to be added to teacher’s existing duties requiring additional time and training without additional compensation noted.
- ⚠️ SB 288 Proposed legislation amends existing law to require expanded academic support be offered to eligible students in kindergarten through twelfth grade who fail to achieve mastery in statewide assessments in reading and math in the previous academic year. These students should receive prioritized placement in a class taught by a teacher labeled as "highly effective" pursuant to the state's teacher evaluation system, if a highly effective teacher is available in the school. If a highly effective teacher is not available, these students should be given the opportunity to receive instructional support via asynchronous tutoring platforms, and intensive high dosage, live tutoring by employees of the school with a student to teach, but kindergarten teachers will have to undergo training to use the new tool.
There are several bills that attempt to take away some of the burden on teachers, however LFT is concerned that they may fall short of really reducing the workload.
- ⚠️ HB 320 LFT supports any effort to lessen workload and commends Rep. Owen for his proactive approach. However, this bill allows BESE to undo changes and to impose additional requirements and will not completely offset the training required by HB 244, HB 267 or SB 336.
- ⚠️ HB 115 Removes instructional requirements in grades K-3 for: Child assault and awareness prevention, litter prevention, mental health, water safety, internet and cell phone safety, eating disorder, substance abuse, and topics related to freedom for “Celebrate Freedom Week”.
- ✅HB 647 requires that any new instructional requirement added to instruction time would have to be offset by the elimination of a requirement of equal instructional time. We commend Rep. Romero for his efforts to alleviate the current workload. It is undetermined if teachers and paras will be required to provide tutoring services during the school day in addition to their current workload and if they will receive additional compensation. The fiscal note seems to lowball the cost at $59M with $30M provided in HCR 21 (MFP).
- ⚠️ HB 336 Requires that the current dyslexia screening use a new dyslexia screening computer software program to be used in place of the current assessment. The tool will be provided free of charge.
Support staff’s right to safety
SB 213 provides physical contact pay for support employees that is equivalent to what teachers receive. Currently, teachers receive up to a full year to recover while support staff only receive up to 90 days. This bill provides the same benefit to support staff who face the same risks as teachers.
✅ SB 213 is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Education Committee
Teach without distraction
✅ HB 322 is awaiting Senate Education
LFT commends Rep. Stagni for his work in meeting with stakeholders to amend the bill, addressing concerns and ensuring teachers cannot physically remove students themselves. We are grateful for his ongoing efforts to support educators.
HB 322 is a response to the challenges teachers told LFT they face in the classrooms–the same challenges that impact teacher shortages and retention.
Teachers have reported that they are not supported in carrying out existing measures for dealing with disruption. This bill provides teachers the authority they need to decide when students are removed, and ensure that the administration and parents are involved in the remediation process so that teachers can focus on their job of teaching and students can focus on learning.
Removing cell phones from the classroom
✅ SB 207 is pending House Education. This bill prohibits cell phones at school which can help to reduce distractions and improve the learning experience.
LFT supports SB 207 as an important effort to reduce disruptions in the classroom for both teachers and students.
The Week Ahead…
❌HCR 21 SCHLEGEL Provides for legislative approval of the MFP formula for FY 2024-
2025
❌HB 571 CREWS Provides relative to certain designated labor organization activities in employment contracts
❌HB 572 CREWS Prohibits collective bargaining for public officers and employees
❌HB 712 CREWS Provides relative to the resignation from labor organizations for teachers and other school employees and the collection of membership dues for political activities
❌HB 919 CHENEVERT Provides with respect to payroll deductions
❌ HB 956 CREWS Creates the Employee Secret Ballot Protection Act