Teacher pay, early education seats cut in initial Louisiana House budget proposal
Louisiana lawmakers advanced a state budget proposal Tuesday that would cut public school teacher pay and reduce the number of early childhood education seats available next school year.
The House Appropriations Committee reduced a $2,000 pay stipend teachers received this school year to just $1,300 next year, saving the state $71 million. It also cuts $24.3 million out of early childhood education, resulting in a loss of almost 2,000 seats.
Instead, the House leadership chose to prioritize other education programs. They agreed to put $30 million toward a targeted tutoring program for kindergarten through third-graders and to allocate $25 million toward differential teacher compensation.
School districts that receive the differential money can use the funds to pay teachers more for hard-to-fill positions. The cash can be used to boost the salaries of educators in math or science or those in schools with more low-income students, for example.
https://lailluminator.com/2024/04/23/teacher-pay-early-education-seats-cut-in-initial-louisiana-house-budget-proposal/