Lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee approved a state budget that cuts funding for early childhood education by more than $24 million and gives public school teachers fewer stipends than expected.
Last year, the Legislature chose to give teachers one-time $2,000 stipends instead of permanent raises. Governor Jeff Landry proposed providing the benefits again this year, citing the state's deepening budget deficit.
The budget approved by a House committee would reduce funding for the benefits from $198 million to $127 million. Teachers will receive $1,300 in stipends, $700 less than promised.
About 2,000 children will lose access to services due to reduced funding for early education, said Libby Sonnier, executive director of the Louisiana Children's Policy Institute.
The state is already at capacity, with about 6,500 children on a waiting list, she said.
“I understand that the budget is huge and decisions have to be made, but I wanted everyone to know that this is the number of children who will lose access,” Sonnier told lawmakers Tuesday. Only,” he said.
Legislators introduced early childhood education and teacher funding to account for additional spending the commission adopted under the Minimum Foundation Program, a spending formula that determines how much state elementary and secondary education boards spend per student. They chose to reduce their scholarships.
The committee voted 12-7 along party lines to adopt the state's public school funding formula. Lawmakers cannot introduce amendments and must either accept or reject the proposed method. Democrats opposed the plan because it does not include permanent raises for teachers.
“We promised to give $2,000 to teachers in this state's schools, and we also promised that it would be paid in the form of a raise. That's what we were supposed to be moving this year,” Baton Rouge said. Democratic Rep. Dennis Marcel said.
The program includes an additional $25 million that districts can pay to teachers based on their performance, as well as to teachers in hard-to-fill positions such as high school science, math and special education.
Lawmakers also added about $3.7 million in federal funding for summer meal programs for students.
The Landry administration, along with several other governors in Republican-led states, refused to fund the program. He did not include the funds in his budget proposal. The commission also added $7 million to domestic violence shelters, which were cut in Landry's plan.
The full House is scheduled to consider the budget on Thursday.
