State lawmakers have until 5 p.m. today to submit their votes on Governor Landry’s plan to provide public school teachers with a $2,000 stipend and a $1,000 stipend for support workers. Patrick Wall, an education reporter for the Advocate newspaper, says legislators want teachers to receive the stipend, but it will also reduce state funding for public schools.
“This could be really hard for schools to manage, a cut of this size, and could even lead to potential layoffs,” Wall said.
The Louisiana Federation of Teachers and School Employees surveyed its members and found that two-thirds of respondents strongly or somewhat opposed the governor’s executive order to reduce the MFP by $168 million to fund the stipends. Wall says teachers are concerned about cuts to public school operations.
“They just think this isn’t the right way, and that the state should be able to apply money in its overall budget without cutting money to the public schools,” Wall said.
It will take a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate for legislators to approve of governor’s teacher pay plan. Wall says there could be consequences for lawmakers and their districts if they vote against the governor.
“There has been concern that if they were to go against the governor on this, he has the ability to veto funding for local projects in their districts,” Wall noted.
Even if the plan receives legislative approval, it faces a legal challenge. A Baton Rouge judge has already said Landry’s plan to cut $168 million from K-12 public school operations to pay for the stipends cannot be implemented until at least a June 29th court hearing.