Thousands of Louisiana school jobs, including those of school nurses, therapists, and counselors, will no longer receive a state stipend this year due to a reduction in funding. The state had previously provided $200 million annually for stipends, but this year’s allocation is $168 million, resulting in the exclusion of 12,200 positions from the stipend-eligible list.
Affected Positions
The affected positions include almost 3,600 principals, assistant principals, and other school-based administrators, as well as almost 2,100 central office workers for school districts. Additionally, around 5,550 school therapists, counselors, and other specialist positions, and more than 900 school nurse jobs, will no longer be eligible for the stipend.
Gov. Jeff Landry’s plan is designed to incentivize local governments to take more responsibility for funding teachers and other school employee salaries. K-12 districts that provide a raise or temporary stipend paid with local tax money will be able to avoid a cut to their state funding under Landry’s plan.
Response from Educators
The Louisiana Association of Educators, one of the state’s largest teachers unions, represents some of the school workers at risk of losing the state stipend. President D’Shay Oaks said her organization is hearing mostly from school counselors worried about a pay cut.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
