[StBernard] Louisiana teacher pay closer than ever before to SREB average

[Westley Annis]

Louisiana teacher pay closer than ever before to SREB average 
Salary increase puts Louisiana on track to reach near parity with neighboring states 

BATON ROUGE-As a result of the $1,500 pay increase awarded this year to Louisiana teachers, the average teacher salary is now at 95 percent of the estimated Southern Regional Education Board's teacher salary average. This new projected average teacher salary for Louisiana was announced at today's meeting of the Education Estimating Conference in Baton Rouge. 

The conference today approved the 2006-2007 Louisiana average teacher salary of $42,100 as the official estimate, and announced that, combined with the normal salary increase, the pay raised proposed by Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and approved in the 2006 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature resulted in this significant improvement in average teacher pay. 

"I am glad that the legislature agreed with my proposal to give our deserving teachers a meaningful pay increase this year," said Governor Blanco, who just completed her term as chair of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). "We are now closer than ever to the SREB average. Our teachers work very hard and they deserved this raise. We have set the stage to reach the Southern average and I will keep working to get there." 

The Education Estimating Conference has set the academic year 1993-1994 as the base year for comparison. Louisiana's average teacher pay is estimated to have increased over the period 1993-1994 to 2006-2007 by 60.2%. In the entire SREB region, it is estimated to have increased by 44.4%. During the sample period, the U.S. CPI increased between July 1993 and July 2006 by 40.9%. 

"The South's goals for education call on every state to ensure that all students are taught by a well-qualified teacher. Higher pay for Louisiana's teachers is an important step toward reaching this goal," said Dave Spence, the president of the Southern Regional Education Board. "Louisiana has made significant progress on teacher pay, and Governor Blanco has shown tremendous leadership in keeping education a top priority even in the face of the hurricanes," Spence said.

"Louisiana has worked hard and succeeded in improving teacher quality, gaining national recognition," said State Superintendent of Education Cecil J. Picard. "Our teachers deserved this raise and thanks to Governor Blanco and the Legislature, they have it. Our teachers continue to work hard, meeting higher and higher accountability goals, so it is my hope that we will all work together to continue improving their salaries as we move forward." 

The Southern Regional Education Board is a nonprofit, nonpartisan board that works to improve education in 16 member states, including Louisiana.

The Education Estimating Conference was created in statute to "develop such official information relating to the state public educational system, including forecasts of student enrollment, the availability of qualified teachers and average teacher salaries." The Education Estimating Conference meets periodically at the direction of the Governor's Office. 

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