A Louisiana judge blocked Gov. Jeff Landry’s plan to pay for teacher stipends by reducing funding for public schools on Thursday, hours after education advocates filed a lawsuit.
The lawsuit argues Landry does not have the authority to redirect the $168 million — that it’s the legislature’s job — and that requiring lawmakers to vote on his executive order remotely, since they’re no longer in session, is also illegal.
The judge’s 11-day restraining order forbids Landry from using the money and from continuing to collect ballots from lawmakers who previously had until Tuesday to vote on the order.
“The order preserves the status quo while the court considers substantial constitutional issues,” Greg Beuerman, a spokesperson for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
In the past, lawmakers have added funds to the budget to cover stipends — $2,000 for teachers and $1,000 for some other employees — rather than giving them a permanent pay raise through the state’s school funding formula.
The governor has suggested that districts can afford to pay their teachers more — and should — without state help. He’s also accused school systems of sitting on funds and spending money on the wrong things, like football fields or paying administrators too much.
Plaintiffs include Katie Baudouin, a member of New Orleans’ school board, Belinda Davis, a former state board of education member, and Mike Faulk, a former superintendent and, until recently, director of Louisiana’s association for superintendents. They all have children or grandchildren who attend public schools.
“I have deep concern for the lack of a deliberative process in the governor’s action, especially in that it excluded any public comment, debate or testimony,” Faulk said in a statement.
“We know we need great teachers and we need to pay them well,” he added. “The question is how to increase teacher pay while keeping the investments that have led Louisiana to lead the country in improved student achievement.”
Louisiana schools would receive, on average, about 5% less funding under Landry’s plan, and would run school systems anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, depending on the number of employees.
If the cut is allowed to proceed, the lawsuit says, it will cause “irreparable harm” to public schools, and “eliminate funding for programs and staff of the schools that has already been appropriated.” Some school leaders have warned it could lead to layoffs.
Louisiana’s auditor, Mike Waguespack, told lawmakers this week that most school districts can afford to cover stipends for teachers and some other employees under the governor’s executive order.
But it would require more than a third of districts to spend down their reserves past the auditor’s recommendation. Systems are advised to maintain a fund balance equal to 16.7% of their revenue to cover large, unexpected expenses and disasters, such as hurricanes.
When a storm destroys school facilities — a regular occurrence in Louisiana — the federal government requires schools to pay for repairs up front and file for reimbursement.
