(The Center Square) – Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said no state government employees will receive raises if teachers do not receive permanent salary increases this year, escalating the stakes after voters rejected a key constitutional amendment tied to education funding.
“In light of Amendment 3 falling short, I want to make it very clear – if our teachers don’t get a permanent raise this year, nobody in state government gets a pay raise,” Landry said in a statement posted to social media. “I mean nobody.”
The remarks come days after Louisiana voters rejected Amendment 3, which would have restructured education funding and helped finance permanent teacher pay raises. It would have required the state to dissolve three education trust funds to pay off employee retirement debt early for K-12 school districts and universities. The districts were to use the savings to give teachers and support workers raises of $2,250 and $1,125.
Without that funding mechanism, lawmakers now face a more difficult path to securing the estimated hundreds of millions of dollars needed to boost salaries.
Landry did not outline a specific plan for how teacher raises would be funded in the absence of the amendment but framed the issue as a priority for the upcoming budget process.
Teacher pay has been a recurring issue in Louisiana, where salaries have historically lagged behind the national average. Lawmakers in recent years have relied on temporary stipends rather than permanent raises, a strategy critics say creates uncertainty for educators and school systems.
