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November 2022: Flawed Accountability Proposal Fails to Pass!

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On Thursday, November 10th the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education held a special meeting to finally vote on the long-debated changes to the high school accountability model. The proposed changes were adamantly opposed by superintendents, principals, teachers, school board members and other educational stakeholders, but supported by non-education special interest groups like the Pelican Institute, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI), and the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools.

In particular, the changes would have de-prioritized dual enrollment courses
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LDOE Blames Teachers for the Issues with eSER Rollout

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On October 10, 2022, two representatives from the Louisiana Department of Education testified before the Louisiana Senate Education Committee. They were questioned about the issues teachers and districts faced with the rollout of the new electronic Special Education Reporting (eSER) system. Thomas Lambert, Assistant Superintendent Office of Assessments, Accountability, & Analytics and Meredith Jordan, Executive Director of Diverse Learners largely focused on issues of human error and "the deep learning curve." They said the issue was teachers who couldn't figure out the new system, even though it was "more intuitive and looks like a modern web solution." MORE

JFT Update: October 24th

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JP Schools Employee Townhall JP Schools is hosting an Employee Townhall Meeting at Boudreaux Elementary School, 950 Behrman Hwy in Terrytown from 6:00 PM-7:30 PM on Tuesday, October 25, 2022. The Superintendent will be taking questions from employees. We know one of the greatest concerns is working conditions (overworked, redundant paperwork, 30-page lesson plans, AIM Pathways, subbing, Paraeducators teaching classes). If you are able to attend, please wear your JFT shirt in solidarity with our Union. It’s the U and I in UNION that makes us STRONG. MORE

BESE Update: October 2022

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Tuesday’s committee meetings began with a public hearing to receive public recommendations regarding the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP), which is the funding formula for Louisiana public schools. As expected, advocates from the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents, the Louisiana School Boards Association, and the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools testified in favor of increasing funding in level one of the MFP – which is the part of the formula that gives school districts the greatest flexibility in how they can use the additional funding. The Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT) has continued to advocate for additional funding to be directed into level four of the MFP, which is the portion of the formula that funds teacher and school employee salaries. The only way to ensure that teachers and school employees receive a raise next year is for additional funding to go into level four. MORE

Tell BESE to Prioritize Raises for Teachers & School Employees

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On Tuesday, October 11th, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will hear public recommendations regarding the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) for next year (2023-2024). As we do each year, LFT will advocate for the largest raise possible for teachers and school employees.

Despite pay increases in recent years, Louisiana teachers and school employees remain below the Southern Regional Average and National Average for pay. In fact, recent state-wide pay raises have been canceled out by increases to insurance premiums from the Office of Group Benefits (OGB). This has

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How Do You Feel: LDOE extends the deadline for eSER data, but not for IEP entry.

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After receiving emails from hundreds of LFT members, LDOE announced that they would give teachers until December 16th to get all their information into the glitchy eSER system. Teachers are still required to get in all their IEPs by October 1st, the only difference is that now you're allowed to submit them on paper, as long as you re-enter the information into the electronic system by December 16th.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t help teachers who have already sunk hours into navigating a broken system and are still under enormous pressure to submit everything by the end of the week. LDOE’s

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Don't Penalize Special Education Teachers -- Extend the Deadline!

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Louisiana's new electronic Special Education Reporting System (eSER) isn't working. It's the new platform that the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) implemented to track Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for special education students. The rollout of this new electronic database has been riddled with bugs and defects that make it difficult, if not impossible for the special education teachers forced to use it.

The annual fall deadline to submit new and expiring IEPs is October 1st, but many special education teachers have not been able to input the data, despite spending hours

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School Board Endorsements

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Nominate Delegates to the AFT Convention

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Jefferson Federation of Teachers & School Employees is accepting nominations for delegates to the 2022 AFT Convention in Boston, which will take place from July 14th - July 17th. All delegates must be JFT members in good standing and they must also be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and have proof of vaccination in order to attend. JFT will provide funding for two delegates to attend the convention, but we may have up to 25 delegates in total. MORE

JFT is Hiring a New Organizer!

Jefferson Federation of Teachers (JFT) seeks a full-time organizer to join our team. JFT is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, serving teachers and school support staff in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Organizers are responsible for a variety of aspects of a campaign including building relationships with workers, developing issues-based organizing plans for assigned areas, and for recruiting and sustaining motivation of organizing committee members and activists. Union organizing experience preferred. MORE