On May 16, Louisiana voters will consider five proposed constitutional amendments, including Constitutional Amendment 3, which directly relates to public education funding and teacher compensation. At New Schools for New Orleans, we believe voters should have clear, accessible information about issues that affect our schools, educators, and students.

 

Teacher compensation is one of the most urgent challenges facing public education in New Orleans and across the state. As we wrote in our recent newsletter on teacher compensation, strengthening teacher pay is not just about recognizing educators’ hard work; it is about sustaining strong schools for students. Teachers are the most important school-based factor in student success, but compensation remains a major driver of teacher retention.

 

Amendment 3 attempts to address this issue by creating a permanent pay increase for teachers and school support staff. If approved, the amendment would provide a $2,250 annual raise for public school teachers and a $1,125 annual raise for school support staff, beginning next school year. The pay raise would be funded by eliminating three education trust funds and using the money to pay down debt in the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL). That debt payment would lower retirement costs for school systems, and those savings would be directed toward the salary increases.

 

The amendment would eliminate the Louisiana Education Quality Trust Fund, the Louisiana Quality Education Support Fund, and the Education Excellence Fund. These funds currently support education programs from early childhood through higher education. According to the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, these funds collectively total to roughly $2 billion, and education programs received $68 million from their earnings in the 2023–24 budget year.

For voters, the question is not whether teachers deserve higher pay. They do. The question is whether this is one of the right mechanisms to get there.

 

Amendment 3 would make permanent a pay increase that educators have needed for years. Louisiana teachers have received temporary stipends in recent years, but those payments have not been guaranteed in perpetuity. A permanent raise would provide more stability and move the state beyond year-to-year stipends toward a more dependable compensation structure.

 

If Amendment 3 passes, it would eliminate education trust funds that currently provide long-term support for early childhood education, K–12 programs, higher education, instructional materials, academic improvement efforts, and other education priorities. If those funds are dissolved, lawmakers have said they intend to continue supporting some of the programs currently funded by them, but not all replacement funding is guaranteed.

 

We believe this moment reinforces a larger point: we need bold, collaborative action across schools, policymakers, advocates, and the broader community that delivers meaningful results for educators and students alike. If we want strong schools and continued academic progress for students, we must ensure teaching in our city is not only meaningful work, but work that educators can build lasting careers in.

 

New Orleans has made meaningful academic progress over the past two decades. Sustaining that progress requires investing in the people who make it possible every day: our educators. Amendment 3 brings needed attention to teacher compensation, but regardless of the outcome on May 16, the work cannot stop there.

 

Our teachers deserve more than temporary fixes. They deserve a long-term commitment.

Our mission is to deliver on the promise of excellent public schools for every child in New Orleans.