Under pressure from the Legislature, the state's top school board Wednesday approved a revised funding request that includes $800 pay raises for teachers and $400 more for school support workers.
The proposal cleared the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education without dissent.
BESE earlier requested teacher pay hikes of $400, which mirrored the request of Gov. John Bel Edwards, $200 for support workers and a $40 million increase in state aid for public schools – 1.375%.
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But legislative leaders last month asked the panel to send a new request that would double the pay raise for teachers and support employees, and remove the push for more school aid amid three waves of federal school aid sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.
The latest request also says that, if the Revenue Estimating Conference recognizes new revenue on May 18, which is expected, BESE is asking that the pay raise be more than $800.
Legislative leaders have said they are aiming for raises of $1,000.
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The new request won support from superintendents and teacher groups.
"The message we send to teachers on how much we value them is incredibly important," said Wes Watts, president of the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents and superintendent of the West Baton Rouge Parish school system.
Tia Mills, president of the Louisiana Association of Educators, said $800 raises would be a step in the right direction.
Gov. John Bel Edwards' plan to boost teacher pay by $400 per year got a blistering reception Friday from teacher leaders.
Mills said 56% of teachers who responded to a recent LAE poll said they rely on a second source of income in addition to their teacher pay.
The state's roughly 50,000 public school teachers are paid an average of $50,923 per year for the 2018-19 school year, the latest figures available.
They are paid about $4,000 less than the Southern average, and meeting that benchmark is a longtime state goal.
Jim Garvey, the longest-serving member of BESE, said he has heard the Revenue Estimating Conference will recognize an additional $600 million to $800 million next week.
Keith Courville, executive director of the Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana, said if the Legislature devoted $600 million to teacher pay salaries would rise by $6,000 and exceed the regional average.
The latest request for education totals $3.9 billion and the money helps finance public schools for the 2021-22 school year.
The pay raise portion of the plan costs about $80 million.
BESE's original request also sought state aid to finance stipends for teacher mentors, who assist teachers new to the profession.
Legislative leaders asked that it be deleted.
The board voted Wednesday to include a letter with its revised funding request that seeks $4.2 million for 278 teacher mentors if officials recognize new state revenue.
State lawmakers can only accept or reject BESE's funding request but cannot change it.
The 2021 regular legislative session ends on June 10.
