(The Center Square) − A proposed constitutional amendment on the May ballot would liquidate three protected education funds to help finance permanent raises for Louisiana teachers and school support staff by paying down retirement debt.
Amendment No. 3 will ask voters to dissolve Louisiana Education Quality Trust Fund, Louisiana Quality Education Support Fund and Education Excellence Fund and use the money to pay down teacher retirement debt and also give teachers a raise.
Teachers would receive a permanent $2,250 raise under the amendment. Because they already receive a $2,000 annual stipend, the net increase for many teachers would be $250. Putting the raise into the constitution would make it permanent rather than temporary.
Voters rejected a related proposal in March 2025, when Amendment 2 – a sweeping tax and fiscal rewrite that also included permanent pay raises for school personnel – overwhelmingly failed. This year’s proposal returns a narrower version of that education-funding change to the ballot.
The amendment was originally proposed in a special session convened by Gov. Jeff Landry in November 2024 that passed several major changes to the state’s tax code.
Jan Moller, representing Invest in Louisiana, said the promised raise also looks smaller in practice because it would only replace the temporary stipend teachers have been receiving.
“When you take away a $2,000 stipend and you add a $2,250 pay raise, it’s a pay raise of $250,” he said.
Moller also questioned the broader fiscal tradeoff behind the amendment. He said the retirement debt being targeted is already on pace to be paid off within a few years, while the trust funds now generate ongoing money for early childhood, K-12 and higher education.
“We’re giving up a permanent financing stream,” Moller said, saying lawmakers should directly fund higher teacher pay instead of restructuring existing education funds.
In response, Daniel Erspamer, representing the Pelican Institute, called it a “win, win, win,” saying the state should use available money to pay down debt rather than continue making interest payments. He said the amendment would help make teacher pay raises permanent while also reducing financial pressure on local school systems.
Erspamer also pushed back on the idea that teacher pay should rest mainly with the state, saying teachers are employees of local school boards and that those boards should play the leading role in setting compensation.
