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Better Choices for a Better Louisiana!
I’m excited about the possibilities of our coalition. As we journey down this road toward fiscal sanity, we’ll be asking for ideas and participation along the way. Please follow our progress, and offer your comments through our Web site, blog and Facebook pages.
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Dear Colleague,
As I began this letter, word came out that the state budget is $100 million in the red because last year’s revenues came in less than projected. To make up for the loss, this year’s budget will reportedly have to be cut at mid-year.
I also learned that if a court decides the legislature was wrong to use the state’s “rainy day fund” to plug holes in this year’s budget, the administration will have to trim another $200 million before next June.
That’s $300 million, on top of the hundreds of millions already cut from the budget. And next year, experts predict a shortfall of as much as $2 billion. No one can seriously argue that Louisiana can absorb those kinds of cuts without crippling education, health care, transportation, and other vital services.
Already, higher education officials are talking about closing as many as eight institutions. And while Gov. Jindal says that K-12 education has been spared budget cuts, we know that state funding was slashed for national certification stipends and student transportation, shifting those costs to local school boards. Educators have been laid off in some districts. In others, teachers must give up planning periods because their systems cannot afford substitutes.
Despite all this, many sympathetic leaders are afraid to consider the need for more revenue. They fear the political consequences of speaking too honestly about revenues, particularly when a relatively few very loud voices seem to dominate the conversation with chants of “No taxes!”
Maybe a new study from the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication will help to open a positive, honest public dialogue.
To read more, please click here.
LFT leader elected to retirement board
Louisiana Federtion of Teachers President Steve Monaghan, left, and Jefferson Federation of Teachers President Meladie Munch congratulate LFT Executive Vice President Joe Potts on his election to the Board of Trustees of the of the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana.
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Louisiana Federation of Teachers Executive Vice President Joe Potts has won the election for the District 1 seat of the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) Board of Trustees. Potts garnered 74.53% of the votes cast. The vote count was 960-328.
Potts, who is also president emeritus of the Jefferson Federation of Teachers, will serve a four-year term as the District 1 Trustee. District 1 represents most active TRSL members who work in Ascension, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John parishes. District superintendents, college/university members, and employees paid with food service funds have their own representatives and are not represented by district representatives.
To read more, please click here.
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How much do you know about Louisiana's state budget? Answer five questions, and you could win a prize!
We’ve created a simple, five-question test about the state budget. Knowing the answers to these questions will get us started down the road to a secure future for our schools and our state. Please click here to play!
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