News

The second survey in LFT’s Six Weeks Six Surveys campaign asks teachers and school employees about their experience with School Safety. Unfortunately, in many schools, safety for staff and students is a serious concern. Dilapidated and moldy buildings can cause long term health problems. Teachers and support staff face regular violence. For some, body armor is a normal part of their daily uniform. Students who need increased emotional support aren't getting the help they need and teachers are spending valuable educational time dealing with student behavior issues. LFT is fighting for policies that keep students and staff safe. We need to hear from you about the solutions you want to see. MORE

Today, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education finalized their MFP Proposal – the funding formula for Louisiana Public Schools. LFT president Larry Carter testified before the board, highlighting the concerns of thousands of educators across the state who often consider leaving their job because of low pay and substandard working conditions. He asked the Board to improve upon what was recommended by the MFP Task Force and the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) and boost funding for teacher and school employee raises. He asked the board to pass a raise of at least $4,000 for teachers and $2,000 for school support staff. With little discussion and no debate, the Board passed the MFP proposal recommended by LDOE. This MFP proposal would give teachers a $2,000 raise as well as certain teachers a $1,000 stipend (the stipend would apply to teachers who are in a critical shortage area, rated highly effective, working in high needs schools and/or those working as part of the teacher leadership team). Despite some media reports, this is not a $3,000 pay hike. A stipend isn’t guaranteed from one year to the next and it could be taken away for any number of reasons. MORE

General Membership Meeting: JFT will hold a General Membership Tuesday, March 21st at 6 PM at the Plumbers and Steamfitters Building 3515 N. Interstate 10 Service Rd W, Metairie 70002. Cynthia Posey, Political and Legislative Director, will present her 2023 Legislative Update. The Regular Legislative Session begins on April 10th and ends on June 8th. It is a fiscal session. Teacher and support staff pay raises will be part of the 2023 session. LFT and JFT will be asking for members to participate through click and sends and possibly a day of action at the Capitol. Please keep an eye out for urgent action alerts from LFT and participate whenever you can! Nominations for president will also take place at the General Membership Meeting. Ms. Kesler Camese-Jones retired in December 2022. Nominations will occur for the remainder of her term, which runs through May 2024. MORE

Last year, Louisiana passed a $1,500 raise for teachers and $750 for school support staff. It was an historic raise by Louisiana standards, but still significantly lower than increases passed in neighboring states. At the same time, LDOE passed a bill that forces teachers to pay a fee for a duplicate background check and the Office of Group Benefits increased premium costs, again. LFT is already working to pass another pay increase. One that will actually make a difference in the lives of our teachers and school employees, but we want to hear from you! Low pay is not the only thing driving teachers and school employees away from our classrooms, but it is an important factor. We want to hear about your experience. How have recent increases to insurance costs impacted your take home pay? How has inflation and increased costs of living impacted your ability to stay in this job? MORE

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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. MORE

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. MORE

As the end of year draws near, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the JFT members for your ongoing support during this trying year. The success of JFT is based on the relationships we have built with our members over the years. Over this past year we have added new staff, Karen Riggleman (karen@jft.org) to represent our PSRPs. We have received overwhelming, positive feedback from our PSRPs in terms of having their own representative on staff at the office. JFT Staff is grateful for the opportunity to work with all members. MORE

As we approach the end of the year, with winter break right around the corner, we want to take a moment to thank you for your tireless devotion to your students. Louisiana’s teachers and school employees, our members, are some of the most hard working and selfless people on the planet, but you shouldn’t have to sacrifice your well-being to be an effective educator. That is why we come together to fight for dignity and professionalism for teachers and support staff in schools. We want to make sure that your love for your students isn’t overshadowed by the day-to-day minutia of tiresome meetings, paperwork, and uninspiring curriculum. You are a creative and dynamic educator and you should be treated as such. Thank you for coming together with your colleagues so that together we can fight for this profession and our students. Whether you are counting down the days until break, or you can’t believe how much you still need to do before the end of the year (or both), now is a time to look back at some of our collective highlights. MORE