Louisiana Teachers Will Lose a $2,000 Stipend This Summer Unless the Legislature Acts in Two Weeks

LAFAYETTE, La. — Gov. Jeff Landry put Louisiana lawmakers on notice Monday: find a way to give teachers a permanent pay raise, or nobody in state government gets a raise at all.

One day after voters rejected Amendment 3 by a 58-42 margin on Saturday, Landry posted the declaration on X.

“If our teachers don’t get a permanent raise this year, nobody in state government gets a pay raise,” Landry wrote, emphasizing the word “permanent.” “I mean nobody.”

As governor, Landry holds line-item veto power over the state budget, meaning he can remove any pay raises from legislation before it becomes law.

Get our free mobile app

What Amendment 3 Would Have Done

The ballot measure proposed dissolving three state education trust funds (the Education Excellence Fund, the Education Quality Trust Fund, and the Quality Education Support Fund) and redirecting the money to pay off debt in the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana ahead of schedule. The savings from that early debt payoff would have covered permanent annual raises of $2,250 for teachers and $1,125 for support staff, according to WWNO.

The amendment was the second attempt in two years to solve the teacher pay problem through constitutional restructuring. A similar measure failed in March 2025.

Louisiana’s two largest teacher unions backed the amendment, framing it as a path from temporary stipends toward permanent salary growth. But some educators and union affiliates opposed it or stayed neutral, worried about raiding education trust funds that support programs for students.

“Members want a traditionally funded raise that they feel the state owes them after years of stipends,” said Brant Osborne, St. Tammany’s union president. “They don’t want something to come at what they view as the expense of kids.”

The Budget Math Is Brutal

If the legislature does nothing, teachers lose the $2,000 stipend they have received each of the past three years.

For three years, the legislature has approved one-time stipends of $2,000 for teachers and $1,000 for support staff. Those stipends expire this summer, and without a new appropriation, Louisiana educators will lose that additional income when the 2026-27 school year begins.

Renewing the stipends would cost roughly $200 million, and the money is not in the current budget. Senate President Cameron Henry has already confirmed the Senate plans to strip other pay raises from the budget to align with Landry’s position.

“To make a permanent pay raise when you’re already $100 million short, which means you would have to cut the budget another $200 million to do something that our constituents just voted not to do,” Henry said.

State economists made the problem worse earlier this month, cutting Louisiana’s revenue projections by $113 million for the current budget cycle and $104 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The drop is largely tied to lower-than-expected income and corporate tax receipts following the 2025 tax cuts.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Glen Womack put it plainly: “We would be hard pressed to find $200 million.”

A Protest Vote Complicates the Picture

All five constitutional amendments on the May 16 ballot failed, and not all for the same reasons.

According to WWNO, a coordinated campaign from left-leaning groups encouraged voters to reject all five amendments as a protest against Landry’s decision to suspend U.S. House races so the state could redraw its congressional map to favor Republicans.

The legislative session must wrap up in two weeks, and the Senate has not identified a funding source for the stipends.

What Comes Next for Louisiana Teachers

Democratic leaders are pushing back. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Kyle Green of Marrero called for the stipend to be made permanent at minimum.

“The stipend should be permanent at a minimum and increased at best,” Green said. “We are absolutely going to be pushing for the stipend to be made permanent.”

Henry suggested a longer-term fix may come in 2027 through adjustments to the school funding formula. For teachers set to lose their stipend this August, 2027 is a long way off.

You May Also Like...

• Louisiana Voters Rejected Every Constitutional Amendment Saturday. Teachers Are the Ones Who Could Pay the Price.
• Two Bills, One Goal: Fixing Louisiana's Teacher Pay and Benefits Crisis
• LPSS Teacher Pay Now Starts at $50K With New Bonus Plan