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A torrent of censorship
Nearly 250 years since our country’s founding, some Americans are still attempting to restrict others’ basic freedoms. In Florida and elsewhere, censoring books is part of larger efforts to exert greater control over and undermine education.
Next Week BESE Will Determine How Much Funding to Put Towards Your Raise
This week, the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) Task Force met to consider the 2023-2024 funding formula for Louisiana public schools. This task force makes a recommendation to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) about how to moderate the formula to provide for raises and/or school funding.
Next week, BESE will consider this recommendation and determine how large of a raise to include in their MFP proposal before sending it to the legislature for approval.
Learn more about what happened and how we can work together to push BESE to increase your raise.
LFT Reacts to the Governor's Budget
Today, Governor Edwards released his proposed budget for the upcoming year. This outlines his spending priorities for the state, but it is only the first step. The budget will now go through the legislative process, where legislators will make adjustments to reflect their own priorities. We are pleased to see that the Governor did include pay raises for teachers and school employees in his proposal, but ultimately this amount still falls short of what is needed.
January Update
The Jefferson Parish School Board recently implemented a Biometrics finger-swipe sign-in/sign-out process for employees to monitor employee attendance. Several JFT members have asked whether this is legal and have raised questions concerning privacy rights and possible data breaches.
Only four states that have passed laws governing use of biometrics in employment: Illinois, Texas and Washington. One additional state (New Hampshire) has passed a law governing biometrics used by their Department of Motor Vehicles. Louisiana has passed a law but it only applies to biometric data gathered from students, not employees.
Notice of Special Election
Kesler Camese-Jones retired on December 9, 2022. In accordance with Article VII, Section F of the JFT Constitution, the position of President will be declared vacant and an election will be held to fill the position of President for the remainder of Kesler’s term, which expires in June of 2024. Sandra Hauer (Executive Vice-President) will become Acting President.
IEP Data Entry Deadline Extended
Due to the outcry from hundreds of special education teachers, administrators, and parents the deadline to enter IEP data into the eSER system will be extended until the third week of January. This was announced by State Superintendent Cade Brumley during this morning's Senate Education Committee meeting. This is the second time that this deadline has been extended due to issues with the eSER system.