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Education

The total means of financing for the Department of Education (DOE) is funded at 104.9% of the department's FY02 operating budget.

The department's Table of Organization (T.O.) was reduced by 14 positions to 1,037 for FY03.

The MFP and the Teacher Pay Raise

  • The FY03 budget includes an additional $43.1 million for the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) to be distributed to the state's 66 local public school districts.
     
  • Half of this money is earmarked for teacher pay raises averaging $368. Teachers, however, will not receive an across-the-board increase.
     
  • Rather, the funds will be distributed according to the projected MFP equalization formula, which takes into account key factors such as student enrollment, a parish's wealth and how much local funding a parish raises for public education purposes. Local school boards have the option of granting additional raises from local revenues.
     
  • Had the Legislature mandated a pay raise across the board, teachers in 34 school districts would have lost money.
     
  • According to the following table, the projected state-funded pay increases for public school teachers may range from zero in nine (9) districts to $1,410 in Evangeline Parish next fall. Since they are part of the MFP, the projected raises may actually vary from these projections because official enrollments will not be determined until October 2002, and MFP allocations to the districts will be set in January 2003.

PROJECTED FY03
TEACHER PAY RAISES PER MFP

 

 

 

 

 

SCHOOL

AVERAGE RAISE

 

SCHOOL

AVERAGE RAISE

DISTRICTS

PER TEACHER

 

DISTRICTS

PER TEACHER

ACADIA

 $99

 

MOREHOUSE

 $143

ALLEN

 $606

 

NATCHITOCHES

 $361

ASCENSION

 $665

 

ORLEANS

 $-  

ASSUMPTION

 $973

 

OUACHITA

 $668

AVOYELLES

 $398

 

PLAQUEMINES

 $215

BEAUREGARD

 $317

 

POINTE COUPEE

 $469

BIENVILLE

 $-  

 

RAPIDES

 $-  

BOSSIER

 $790

 

RED RIVER

 $-  

CADDO

 $141

 

RICHLAND

 $266

CALCASIEU

 $289

 

SABINE

 $375

CALDWELL

 $420

 

ST. BERNARD

 $405

CAMERON

 $45

 

ST. CHARLES

 $229

CATAHOULA

 $-  

 

ST. HELENA

 $437

CLAIBORNE

 $1,246

 

ST. JAMES

 $179

CONCORDIA

$394

 

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

 $264

DESOTO

 $23

 

ST. LANDRY

 $842

EAST BATON ROUGE

 $32

 

ST. MARTIN

 $611

EAST CARROLL

 $248

 

ST. MARY

 $337

EAST FELICIANA

 $381

ST. TAMMANY

 $666

EVANGELINE

 $1,410

 

TANGIPAHOA

 $524

FRANKLIN

 $219

 

TENSAS

 $-  

GRANT

 $543

 

TERREBONNE

 $468

IBERIA

 $632

 

UNION

 $794

IBERVILLE

 $-  

 

VERMILION

 $286

JACKSON

 $423

 

VERNON

 $247

JEFFERSON

 $252

 

WASHINGTON

 $487

JEFFERSON DAVIS

 $493

 

WEBSTER

 $411

LAFAYETTE

 $475

 

WEST  BATON ROUGE

 $-  

LAFOURCHE

 $647

 

WEST CARROLL

 $350

LASALLE

 $489

 

WEST FELICIANA

 $260

LINCOLN

 $701

 

WINN

 $-  

LIVINGSTON

 $971

 

CITY OF MONROE

 $877

MADISON

 $187

 

CITY OF BOGALUSA

 $994

 
STATEWIDE  AVERAGE:  $368
 

 

AVERAGE  TEACHER  SALARIES  FY02

 

 

 

 

 

SCHOOL

AVERAGE

 

SCHOOL

AVERAGE

DISTRICTS

SALARY

 

DISTRICTS

SALARY

ACADIA

 $32,284

 

MOREHOUSE

 $29,577

ALLEN

 $30,242

 

NATCHITOCHES

 $32,072

ASCENSION

 $36,858

 

ORLEANS

 $35,103

ASSUMPTION

 $33,459

 

OUACHITA

 $37,056

AVOYELLES

 $31,230

 

PLAQUEMINES

 $37,351

BEAUREGARD

 $32,822

 

POINTE COUPEE

 $33,485

BIENVILLE

 $33,055

 

RAPIDES

 $33,976

BOSSIER

 $34,610

 

RED RIVER

 $28,915

CADDO

 $38,545

 

RICHLAND

 $29,497

CALCASIEU

 $35,255

 

SABINE

 $31,194

CALDWELL

 $30,316

 

ST. BERNARD

 $35,465

CAMERON

 $37,309

 

ST. CHARLES

 $37,390

CATAHOULA

 $27,265

 

ST. HELENA

 $30,751

CLAIBORNE

 $30,489

 

ST. JAMES

 $36,989

CONCORDIA

 $31,696

 

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

 $36,564

DESOTO

 $37,282

 

ST. LANDRY

 $36,796

EAST BATON ROUGE

 $36,116

 

ST. MARTIN

 $34,963

EAST CARROLL

 $29,588

 

ST. MARY

 $34,840

EAST FELICIANA

 $29,334

 

ST. TAMMANY

 $38,455

EVANGELINE

 $34,214

 

TANGIPAHOA

 $37,945

FRANKLIN

 $27,833

 

TENSAS

 $26,550

GRANT

 $30,819

 

TERREBONNE

 $34,265

IBERIA

 $36,483

 

UNION

 $32,892

IBERVILLE

 $37,525

 

VERMILION

 $35,719

JACKSON

 $26,910

 

VERNON

 $31,915

JEFFERSON

 $36,182

 

WASHINGTON

 $33,734

JEFFERSON DAVIS

 $36,747

 

WEBSTER

 $35,944

LAFAYETTE

 $35,159

 

WEST  BATON ROUGE

 $34,810

LAFOURCHE

 $32,907

 

WEST CARROLL

 $28,627

LASALLE

 $31,374

 

WEST FELICIANA

 $36,448

LINCOLN

 $35,077

 

WINN

 $28,922

LIVINGSTON

 $36,060

 

CITY OF MONROE

 $32,505

MADISON

 $28,897

 

CITY OF BOGALUSA

 $32,174

 
STATEWIDE  BUDGETED  AVERAGE:  $35,179
 

  • Louisiana's 59,000 public school teachers received a $2,060-per-year across-the-board raise in the FY02 state budget adopted by the Legislature in the 2001 Regular Session.
     
  • The FY03 pay raise equates to a 1.0 percent increase. The average budgeted teacher salary in Louisiana in FY02 was $35,179. The appropriated increase will raise the average to $35,547.
     
  • The average teacher salary in the sixteen state region of the Southern Regional Education board was $39,698 in FY02.
     
  • Under the MFP resolution (SCR 139 of 2001) proposed by BESE and adopted by the Legislature during the 2001 Regular Session, 50 percent of the future growth in state aid for public schools must be used to boost teacher pay for the next few years (FYs 03, 04 and 05) until teacher salaries in Louisiana reach the Southern average.
     
  • Since no new MFP resolution for FY03 was proposed by BESE during the 2002 Regular Session, SCR 139 of 2001 remains in effect.
     
  • The MFP's growth funding is usually used by local school systems for supplies and administrative costs. Some school district superintendents have complained that under SCR 139 of 2001, they have lost flexibility over how their growth money will be spent and will not have sufficient revenues to address several areas that will be increasing in cost, such as health insurance and utilities. Accommodating the school districts' needs in the face of mandates imposed by the MFP is a future issue to be dealt with by the Legislature.
     
  • Further, the latest DOE projections for the FY03 MFP allocations indicate that the MFP may be under-funded by as much as $11.0 million. Act 13 treats the MFP appropriation as "more or less estimated", thus allowing the Legislature and the Governor to make mid-year budgetary adjustments to fully fund the program, provided sufficient revenue is available. In recent years, cuts have been made in other budgets and/or supplemental appropriations have been made to cover any MFP shortfalls.

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001

The FY03 budget provides for an additional $64.5 million in federal funds to implement the NCLB Act, which redefines and expands the federal role in public education. Major elements of the Act include:

  • Annual testing for all students
  • Annual yearly progress expectations for all students
  • Accountability measures for schools failing to meet expectations
  • Instructional staff quality requirements
  • New reading program standards
  • Additional flexibility for states
  • Increased school choice opportunities for students in low-performing schools
  • School performance "report cards" for parents
  • Expanded support for rural schools

Whereas NCLB provides $64.5 million in new federal funding for education in Louisiana, the federal share of all revenues received by Louisiana local education agencies (LEAs) has already been averaging 11.7 percent over the last several years, as opposed to the national average of 7.0 percent.

The Act also mandates annual assessments and accountability structures, but much of what the Act seeks to accomplish is already either part of or has grown out of Louisiana's recent education reform activities. Nonetheless, the concerns raised by both DOE and LEAs are the following:

  • Shortening the amount of time to reach state goals, along with the cost and interference of nationally mandated annual assessments.
     
  • Making Louisiana sharply increase the ranks of "highly qualified" certified teachers in the midst of a teacher shortage, especially in the areas of math and science.
     
  • Requiring lagging schools to use some of their federal money to pay for outside tutoring. Otherwise, there exists the potential for over-identification of schools failing to meet annual yearly progress that would trigger mandated "corrective actions". DOE estimates that nearly 75% of the state's schools would land in "corrective action" under NCLB's legal guidelines.
     
  • Making the state use different tests. NCLB requires states to give tests based on their curriculum in third through eighth grades. Louisiana's LEAP test covers that in the fourth and eighth grades. In the other grades, Louisiana uses the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.
     
  • Requiring the state to show progress among minority students, students who do not speak English at home, or come from low-income families.

Louisiana's DOE has prepared a preliminary plan to comply with NCLB, and that plan is currently under review in Washington. Act 13 requires that the DOE submit to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget (JLCB) its NCLB-related (1) performance indicators (by August 15, 2002) and (2) detailed expenditure plan (by October 1, 2002).

The School Support Worker Pay Raise

  • Next year's spending plan also includes $20 million for pay raises for about 38,000 school support workers, including teacher aides, cafeteria workers, janitors and bus drivers.
     
  • The Governor's Executive Budget had provided $12 million for a nearly $300 raise. The Legislature added an additional $8 million to bring the raise closer to $500. The average school support worker earned about $14,750 in FY02, so the appropriated raise equates to about a 3.2 percent increase.
     
  • A Senate Floor amendment to the General Appropriation Bill (HB 1) provided that the first $11.5 million of any surplus the state realized during FY03 would give school support workers an extra one-time bonus of $300. The Governor line-item vetoed this $300 bonus amendment for school support workers, maintaining that the bonus amounted to "a hollow promise", since the money would only materialize if the state had a surplus of at least $11.5 million. The governor's veto message maintained that while a surplus of this magnitude has occurred in recent fiscal years, such a situation cannot be definitely predicted.

LA 4 and Other TANF-Funded Programs

  • The Department of Education (DOE) received a net $20.8 million increase in interagency transfers from the Department of Social Services' (DSS) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
     
  • Act 1146 of the 2001 Regular Session established a pre-kindergarten education program for at-risk 4-year-olds. Pilot programs were underway by January 2002, and served about 1,700 of the 3,800 available slots for students. Smaller school districts had problems participating in the pre-kindergarten program because of certain programmatic requirements mandated by Act 1146.
     
  • Act 25 of the 2002 First Extraordinary Session made it easier for school districts to participate in early childhood development programs without retreating from Act 1146's original commitment to high quality programs.
     
  • The program was renamed "LA 4". Consequently, LA 4's TANF funding was increased by $14.5 million in order to both expand to eight (8) additional school districts, and to expand existing programs in seven (7) school districts to reach more students. In FY03, the total number of at-risk 4-year-olds served will total about 5,000.
     
  • Other TANF-funded initiatives in DOE saw increases in the following programs: After-School Enrichment (+$8.0 million); Child Literacy (+$4.8 million); and Family Literacy (+$4.0 million).
     
  • TANF-funded reductions were made to the following programs: Pre-GED/Skills Options (renamed Dropout Prevention) (-$6.5 million); Adult Education and training (-$2.2 million); and Community-Based Tutorial(-$2.2 million).

Group Insurance Adjustment

  • DOE budget units experienced an overall $32.5 million increase in various means of financing to provide adequate employer contributions to the SEGBP. Of this amount, $32.2 million was provided by the Deficit Elimination/Capital Outlay Escrow Replenishment Fund to address prior outstanding claims. Almost the entire increase will be applied to claims in the state's 66 school districts.

Charter School Growth

  • Act 13 provides $7.7 million for charter schools across the state, including $2.5 million for enrollment growth and the addition of grades in existing charter schools. The Belle Chasse Charter School of Plaquemines Parish will receive $3.6 million in FY03, and the Sabis International School of New Orleans will receive $1.6 million.

Teacher Mentoring

  • An initiative in teacher mentoring is funded at $1.5 million for FY03.
     
  • The state's Blue Ribbon Commission on Teacher Quality recommended that the Louisiana Teacher Assistance and Assessment Program be enhanced and expanded so as to provide better support and training for new teachers.
     
  • The mentor supplement is $400 per year ($466 with employer benefits) per new teacher. Approximately 3,220 new teachers are expected to need mentoring in FY03 (3,220 x $466 = $1,500,520).

School Accountability and Improvement

  • In FY 01-02, the Legislature provided $10.0 million in new state money to fully fund rewards for high-performing schools. This $10 million is eliminated from the FY03 budget since the rewards are granted only every other year.

Education Excellence Fund (EEF) Reductions

  • Due to the sale of 60% of the Tobacco settlement in 2001, the FY03 budget reflects an $8.5 million reduction in EEF expenditures for public schools, non-public schools, state special schools, and charter schools.
     
  • Since future tobacco proceeds and their interest earnings will be reduced, this reduction was necessary.

Professional Improvement Program (PIP) Reduction

  • The PIP budget for FY03 was reduced by $3.0 million to reflect the declining number of active teachers eligible for the program's educational stipends.

K-12 Classroom-Based Technology

  • Act 23, the FY03 Capital Outlay Act, provides $10 million for K-12 instructional technology. These funds were derived from nonrecurring general fund revenues. This appropriation will allow the state's schools to continue equipping their classrooms with new internet-ready computers and will update aging classroom computers.

EEF and the Nonpublic Schools

  • Act 26 provides for supplemental appropriations for FY02. The act distributes $99.3 million in Education Excellence Fund (EEF) monies to the state's public schools ($81.4 million), nonpublic schools ($17.4 million), and special schools ($0.4 million).
     
  • These funds were originally derived from the 2001 sale of 60 percent of the state's tobacco settlement.
     
  • The state's 66 public school districts maintain that neither the nonpublic schools nor the special schools are entitled to these EEF monies. The public districts contend that the 1999 constitutional amendment establishing the EEF directs 10 percent of total annual tobacco settlement proceeds to only public schools starting in FY 00-01. Neither the nonpublic schools nor the state special schools received any of the 10 percent amount in FY 00-01.
     
  • At this writing, the State District Judge sided with the school districts suing the state to prevent the disbursement of the funds to the nonpublic and state special schools and issued a preliminary injunction.

 

Questions and comments may be directed to websen@legis.la.gov
Baton Rouge, Louisiana.