One of Louisiana's largest teachers unions, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, has officially endorsed Amendment Two, a measure on the March 29 ballot that seeks to make a one-time stipend a permanent salary increase for teachers and support staff.
“Right now it’s $2,000 for teachers and $1,000 for all support employees,” said LFT President Larry Carter.
Two years ago, teachers received a $2,000 pay raise, but it’s considered a stipend, and is not permanent. Legislators did not want to make it permanent because of future funding concerns.
Carter says the passage of Amendment Two would protect that funding against future budget deficits.
“If, for example, there’s a deficit conversation and the stipend gets rolled off, they're not permanent so they can be taken away. So, this would ensure that if it passes it will become a permanent part of their salary,” said Carter.
There has been a lawsuit filed by a pastor and two teachers arguing that the ballot language is misleading, but Carter says LFT is backing Amendment Two.
“But we are not aware of that legal challenge. We understand there are a lot of individuals who feel that they want to deal with this issue differently than we are dealing with it. We think that this is the positions and our leaders that we are for Amendment Two,” he said.
Early voting begins Saturday, March 15 and ends March 22. The election is March 29.