Latest Louisiana budget plan leaves teacher pay cut, increases pay for prison guards

Louisiana legislators started moving a revised version of the state budget Thursday that pulls back funding for K-12 school districts and public school educators, while increasing pay for prison guards. 

The budget plan would result in teacher and support worker pay cuts of $2,000 and $1,000, respectively. Legislative leaders also eliminated an expansion of Gov. Jeff Landry’s GATOR school voucher program and they scrapped a plan to give school districts more money to cover expenses like insurance and gas.

The proposal from the Louisiana Senate Finance Committee would erase a budget deficit mostly on the back of education programs and services. Committee members advanced the budget plan with little discussion and no debate. The full Senate and House must approve it before June 1, when their lawmaking session ends.

The Senate committee was forced to make reductions to a spending plan originally approved by the House after state officials dropped revenue projections by $113 million in the current fiscal year and $103 million in the next fiscal year that starts July 1.

Voters also rejected a constitutional amendment Saturday that was supposed to guarantee public school teachers and support workers a raise. Legislators have decided not to make adjustments to the budget to accommodate the amendment’s failure, which means educators not only won’t get a raise but also won’t see the temporary stipends they have received the past three years.

Gov. Jeff Landry declared earlier this week that no state government workers would receive a raise if the teachers weren’t getting one. But the budget proposal the Senate committee released Thursday includes millions of dollars more for raises for correctional officers at state prisons.

Senators have also inserted a provision in the legislature’s own budget allowing them to draw their daily allowance more days out of the year. 

This is a developing story. Please check back for more information.