ST. MARY PARISH MEMBER TO RECEIVE THE CALIFORNIA CASUALTY AWARD FOR TEACHING EXCELLENCE
St. Mary Association of Educators member Brandan Trahan has been selected to receive the 2016 California Casualty Award for Teaching Excellence, a prestigious award given to outstanding educators across the nation. Trahan is among 42 public school educators who will be honored in Washington, D.C., on February 12, 2016, at the NEA Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Education Gala. His school, Franklin Junior High School, will receive a $650 award because of his achievement.
“We honor outstanding educators who truly deserve our recognition and empower them to transform the profession by driving innovation that leads to positive student outcomes,” said CEO of the NEA Foundation Harriet Sanford. “Clearly, Mr. Trahan is doing just that.
Trahan has been invited to participate in the Global Learning Fellowship, an extensive, year-long professional development opportunity to cultivate the global competence skills educators use to improve their practice and prepare students to thrive in a rapidly changing world. Fellows contribute to the advancement of the profession by creating global lesson plans that are shared with educators on open source platforms.
“Our participants in the fellowship receive high-caliber professional development opportunities that benefit their students, colleagues, and school systems,” Sanford said. “We are thrilled that California Casualty has joined us to pay tribute to these outstanding educators, and we are excited to have a phenomenal educator like Brandan take part in this one-of-akind initiative.”
The LAE nominated Trahan after he received the LAE’s coveted Teacher Image Award at the Representative Assembly this past spring.
Congrats, Brandan! Your colleagues are very proud.
FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
Debbie Meaux, President
I’m happy to report that this past summer, the LAE was successful in its efforts to advance a positive, pro-public education agenda. We have been deeply involved in the debate surrounding COMPASS and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). We have also helped convince the Louisiana School Accountability Commission to delay the impact of value-added scores until the 2016-17 school year. A full review of the CCSS is now in progress, something for which many have advocated since the standards were forced upon us. With the many changes coming to the curriculum and testing, I believe that we can make a case to further delay implementation of value-added or do away with it altogether.
During the 2015 Legislative Session, we worked with other labor groups to successfully defeat an attempt by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry to deprive our members of the professional voice afforded to them through their LAE membership. Another victory this session was the continuation of MFP funding increases that will allow teacher pay increases to continue. The LAE continued its advocacy efforts for additional increases for pay raises for Louisiana’s dedicated support professionals, who also play an integral role in every child’s school day. The recognition of the value of all Louisiana school employees, both certified and non-certified, is long overdue!
In the coming year, I hope to see many new faces of members who have made a commitment to become more involved in the association. We cannot continue our fight for strong public schools if we don’t have the support of each and every one of you. I pledge my commitment to you and your colleagues to make your professional association the strongest it can be. I hope you will do the same.
Thank you for all that you do, not only for your profession and your school, but most importantly, for Louisiana’s students. Have a great school year—let’s make it the best yet!
In Solidarity,
Debbie Meaux
2015 LOUISIANA LEGISLATIVE SESSION RECAP
The LAE Lobby Team saw many ups and downs during the Louisiana’s 43rd Legislative Session, but we are happy to report several valuable accomplishments from this year’s annual meeting. Lawmakers reached a consensus on the state’s operating budget just before the gavel fell to officially end the session, raising roughly 720 million dollars in new revenue for next year to offset shortfalls; however, the budget is full of one-time fixes and pull-backs on wealthy corporate tax subsidies which will sunset in one to three years. Some of the revenue-raising measures passed include raising the cigarette tax by 50 cents per pack, increasing vehicle title transfer fees, forcing retailers to collect sales taxes on internet purchases, placing restrictions on the film tax credit program, a partial repeal of the inventory tax credit, and passage of the controversial Student Assessment for a Valuable Education (SAVE) Fund. The SAVE Fund is a scheme designed to allow higher education institutions to charge a new student fee, only to turn around and receive a tax credit from the state to cover the fee. Some lawmakers expressed discontent for the measure, referring to it as a “sophisticated money laundering scheme.”
Representatives cut a deal with senators to fully fund the state’s public school funding mechanism, the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP). The senate used the MFP to garner votes for the SAVE Fund on the last day of session. The total increase to the public school funding formula will be 85 million dollars. In an unexpected move, the Senate Education Committee had previously deferred the MFP resolution, HCR 18, but in the remaining hours of the session, a conference committee worked out the details by adding originally requested funds. Forty-million dollars will go toward expected student enrollment growth; 36 million will go toward a 1.375 percent increase in the base-per-pupil amount; and eight million dollars will go toward new spending for high-cost services for students with disabilities and those taking dual enrollment college and career education classes. The LAE was pleased with the legislature’s decision to provide an increase in the MFP as it is greatly needed in order to sustain basic funding for vital K-12 public education services.
COMMON CORE COMPROMISE ENACTED
Three bills dealing with issues surrounding the Common Core State Standards passed the legislature with little to no opposition. Representative Brett Geymann’s proposal (HB 373) will…
1.) require BESE to hold public hearings in all six congressional districts to allow citizen input;
2.) allow the Senate and House Education Committees to review changes by March 4, 2016 in order to vote to accept or reject all of the changes; and
3.) give future governors the right to veto the plan in its entirety.
Senator Conrad Appel’s proposal (SB 43) will dictate how BESE will comply with the Administrative Procedures Act as it relates to the Common Core review process, and Representative John Schroder’s proposal (HB 542) addresses how students are tested under the new standards. One area that wasn’t addressed during the session was establishing a hold-harmless period for students, teachers, schools, and school districts during the transition. It is anticipated that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will tackle this issue soon.
“PAYROLL PROTECTION ACT” REMAINS IDLE
Year after year—for the past four years—the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry has led an effort to silence the voices of Louisiana’s educators. Year after year, the attempt fails; 2015 was no exception. The group sponsored the proposal to ban public sector union members from having their dues deducted automatically from their paychecks. This convenience, afforded to Louisiana’s already-over-worked public servants, is neither a special privilege nor a burden on taxpayers. The service is practically costless and available to credit unions, insurance companies, charitable organizations, and other recognized vendors—in fact, union dues deduction is only one of hundreds of payments that employees can choose to have deducted from their paychecks. The legislation would have created obstacles for workers to join and maintain membership in the professional organization of their choice. Discouraging a Louisiana citizen from partaking in this freedom of association is a direct attack on their constitutional rights. Lawmakers heard workers loud and clear—the debate on the legislation was delayed mid-session and never brought up again. Louisiana’s public sector unions could not have been successful in the defeat of this divisive legislation without YOUR help! Thanks for the time YOU took out of your personal schedule to make calls, send emails, and pay visits to legislators to let them know that this bill was nothing more than an attack on Louisiana’s hard-working public servants. We truly appreciate your efforts!
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