Publications and Reports

A message from LFT President Steve Monaghan

Dear Colleague,

As the legislature returns to Baton Rouge for the 2014 regular session, let’s assess where we’ve been, where we are, and where we should be going.

No mandatory salaries in the new MFP

This week the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved an MFP Task Force report that recommends a 2.75 percent increase in the $3.5 billion formula, but does not specify that half of the increase should go to teacher salaries.

Reacting to an avalanche of complaints from the LFT, parents, school boards and others, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted to stagger the implementation of Common Core standards, which will now not go into full effect until the 2025 school year. Previously, Common Core was slated to be fully operational by 2016.

At a marathon BESE meeting, board members punted the Common Core controversy to local school boards and teachers, ignored educators’ requests for help with curricula and resources, and promised little relief from a flawed and unaccountable Value Added evaluation model.

This month's Board of Elementary and Secondary Education got off to a rocky start, with member Lottie Beebe sharply criticizing the state for the way the Value Added Model of teacher evaluation is being implemented

Dear Colleague,

For the past few years, the debate about education has been a one-way conversation, with a lot of negative comments and misguided policies aimed at teachers and our schools. The voices of educators were largely ignored.

“Course Choice” robs funds from at-risk programs

A scandal-plagued program adopted by the legislature in 2012 will be funded by taking money dedicated to at-risk prekindergarten students and other initiatives aimed at improving student performance.

BESE adopts changes to Bulletin 741, with minor modifications

Perhaps influenced by thousands of e-mails, telephone calls and personal contacts, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education made some modest adjustments to proposed rule changes affecting Bulletin 741, the School Administrators’ Handbook.

Despite a ruling from a district court judge that its funding mechanism is unconstitutional, the state education board is moving forward with a plan to provide courses to public school students through nontraditional, nonpublic venues.