Ganey Arsement: About Louisiana’s State-Funded, $1,000 Teacher Raise
The following Educate Louisiana article was published on February 28, 2019, by Louisiana special education teacher, public education advocate, and writer, Ganey Arsement. (In this reproduction, some links added and mild editing to photos/captions):
Ganey Arsement
Supt. Voitier Suggests $10k Raise For Teachers.
Ganey ArsementOn February 28th, in what proved to be the most exciting meeting of the MFP task force, to date, Superintendent Doris Voitier suggested that the $1000 raise for teachers, recommended by the governor, is not enough and stated that she’d like to give teachers a $10, 000 raise. Voitier also happens to be a member of BESE, appointed by Gov. John Bel Edwards.
Doris VoitierTo be clear, what I said in the first paragraph actually did happen; however, without context related to Voitier’s statement, you likely made the wrong assumption based on what you read. To understand what really happened, let’s examine the events leading up to this meeting and the actual role of the MFP task force.In the Summer of 2018, Gov. John Bel Edwards began to assert that he would be prioritizing raises for teachers in the upcoming legislative session. The average salary of Louisiana teachers is approximately $2500 below the Southeastern Regional average. Edwards acknowledges that $1000 won’t get us to the average, but hopes to make incremental increases over multiple years.There was much ado about the announcement because when the story ran, it was accompanied by the photo shown on the right (*see below in this reposting). Supt. John White agreed with, and supported, Edwards’ proposal. Right away, the usual players in education policy began to weigh in on the matter. The Louisiana Association of Educators stated that it was a start and supported the $1000. The Louisiana Federation of Teachers supported the $1000, but urged Edwards to revisit and consider $2500. Chairman of the House Education Committee, Rep. Nancy Landry, made multiple public statements criticizing the $1000 while saying $1815 was more in line. Former chairman of the Senate Education Committee, Conrad Appel, protested saying that public schools have shown no progress and teachers don’t deserve a raise. (Edit: I originally stated that Nancy Landry supported a $2500 raise, but couldn’t confirm, or link to it, because she has resorted to blocking constituents, myself included. There CONTINUE READING: Ganey Arsement: About Louisiana’s State-Funded, $1,000 Teacher Raise | deutsch29
