KEY TAKEAWAYS: Voters reject Amendment 3, leaving teacher pay plan unfunded Lawmakers face $200 million gap to avoid teacher pay reductions Debate grows over renewing temporary teacher stipends Budget pressures include deficit, tax cuts and competing priorities   Leaders in the Louisian a Legislature were reluctant Monday to come up with the $200 million needed to avoid a public school teacher pay cut after voters rejected a constitutional amendment tied to educator compensation over the weekend. Amendment 3, which 58% of voters opposed Saturday, would have set in motion plans for a permanent pay adjustment for teachers and school support staff to replace a temporary stipend lawmakers have approved for them each of the past three years. The proposal was one of five amendments to fail and among the four backed by Gov. Jeff Landry. Less than two weeks remain in the legislators’ lawmaking session, a short timeline to come up with the money now needed to avoid a teacher pay reduction. The state also faces a $104 million budget deficit next fiscal year, meaning lawmakers were required to make budget reductions even before the teacher compensation shortfall became an issue. “Obviously we have a $100 million deficit already, so that would take us finding an additional $300 million,” House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, said Monday, casting doubt on whether another year of stipends would be approved. Education advocates warn the pay reductions could have serious consequences for the 52,000 teachers who work in Louisiana public schools. They already feel the squeeze of rising prices for gas and groceries, said D’Shay Oaks, president of the Louisiana Association of Educators. So much so that many are contemplating second jobs, she added. “If they do not get a stipend or do not get a pay raise, it might mean that they cannot afford their bills,” Oaks said. The average Louisiana teacher’s salary was just shy of $56,000 in 2024, less than the average salary of almost $62,000 in surrounding states, according to the most recent data available from the Southern Regional Education Board. State lawmakers have propped up compensation for teachers and school support workers with $2,000 and $1,000 temporary annual stipends, respectively, since the 2023-24 school year. They were banking on voters to pass Amendment 3, which would have resulted in permanent $2,250 and $1,125 salary increases that covered the stipends. Since the amendment failed, Landry and lawmakers have not presented a backup plan for teacher compensation. “Where we are at in the session, it is difficult to give teachers a pay raise at this time,” said Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, who helps build the state spending plan. Landry hasn’t said whether he would support another round of stipends for teachers next school year. In a social media post Monday, the governor directed lawmakers to withhold raises from other state workers if they didn’t give teachers a permanent pay increase. Democratic legislators have expressed interest in at least providing the stipend again, even if funding the full raise that originally proposed can’t be on the table. “Just because the election did not go as well as everybody expected, we can’t forget the role that teachers play,” said Senate Democratic Caucus Chairman Gerald Boudreaux of Lafayette. But Democrats are outnumbered by more than 2-to-1 in the legislature. If teachers are to avoid a pay cut, they will need the support from more Republicans, Boudreaux said. Teacher pay is also competing with a host of other financial priorities this session, such as driving more funding into child welfare services and programs that benefit children with disabilities, lawmakers said. “There are a lot of moving parts of this budget,” said Sen. Katrina Jackson-Andrews, D-Monroe. “So I am going to be slow to speak on whether we can do [another teacher stipend].” Legislators have less money available to them this year following tax cuts they passed at the governor’s direction in 2024. The state has seen a larger drop than expected in personal income and corporate tax revenue since they lowered those tax rates specifically, economists said. Jan Moller, head of the left-leaning group Invest in Louisiana, has suggested the legislature tap into a $2.4 billion savings account to avoid a teacher pay cut this year. He’s urging lawmakers to take the procedural steps to draw down $200 million from the state Revenue Stabilization Fund to extend the pay stipend one more year. Legislators have diverted almost $2 billion from that same fund over the past two years, using the money to pay for a variety of road, bridge and water system upgrades. They have also used tens of millions of dollars from the savings account to cover less tangible items, such as business tax incentives and state government technology upgrades. Moller said an extension of teacher pay stipend for another year is just as worthy of a cause. But the governor and legislators should also come up with a permanent plan for dealing with teacher compensation, said Steven Procopio with the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, a group that advocates for responsible government spending. The state will face more budget pressures in future years as reductions to federal support for the state Medicaid program and lower sales tax rates that are already scheduled come online, he said. “At some point, they need to come up with a long-term solution,” Procopio said. ...read more read less