Two bills that would permanently increase the pay of K-12 public school teachers were accepted by the state legislature earlier this week and have made it to Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk, where they await executive approval. 
This July, Louisiana lawmakers decided to give teachers a one-time $2,000 stipend and $1,000 to school support staff, totaling $199 million just for the upcoming school year. During this time, lawmakers chose not to make the raise permanent as the state expected a deficit in the next year’s budget. 
However, on Nov. 22,  both the Senate and House voted unanimously in favor of House Bill 5, authored by Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville, which would require public K-12 schools to make the temporary stipend a permanent raise for all teachers and support staff salaries. 
Senators also introduced amendments to the bill that would reallocate excess money in school district savings to be used for early childhood education programs, summer programs and compensation for employees who are required to do more work due to shortages.
As of Nov. 25, H.B. 5 has been sent to the governor, awaiting final approval.  
All of H.B. 5’s plans would be executed through the accompanying House Bill 7, authored by Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro. This bill would pay off nearly $2 billion in debt from the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana and make the permanent salary increases possible by requiring school districts to use the money they would have put towards their retirement debts into the employees’ raises. 
This plan would require removing the Louisiana Education Quality Trust Fund, the Education Excellence Fund and the Louisiana Quality Education Support Fund from Louisiana’s constitution and relocating the funds toward the schools.

Using the money for the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana’s debt is believed to make around $287 million annually available to school districts. However, more is needed to cover the raises after becoming permanent in every school district. The Legislative Fiscal Office said the government would be responsible for covering anywhere between $70,000 and $6.2 million annually.

However, these bills do not address private or charter schools since their teachers do not function under the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana. Areas where charter schools make up most of the education systems, like Orleans Parish, will reap the least amount of benefits.

H.B. 7 was also approved unanimously by the Senate and with a two-thirds vote from the House. Now, it awaits approval from residents in the Municipal Primary Election on March 29, 2025.