UPDATE | A state judge has temporarily blocked Gov. Jeff Landry's plan to move $168 million out of Louisiana's public school funding formula to pay one-time teacher stipends, according to WBRZ and WAFB, which reported Wednesday that 19th Judicial District Judge Richard "Chip" Moore signed a temporary restraining order in the case. The order is reported to remain in effect until a June 29 hearing.
(Louisiana Illuminator) Three longtime public education advocates filed a lawsuit Thursday to block Gov. Jeff Landry and other state officials from cutting funds for K-12 school operations in order to give out another round of teacher pay stipends.
Former public school superintendent Michael Faulk, former state school board member Belinda Davis and current Orleans Parish School Board member Katherine Baudouin are seeking a temporary restraining order to block the implementation’s of Landry’s stipend proposal. They filed their lawsuit with the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge.
In addition to Landry, Louisiana’s Department of Education, state Education Superintendent Cade Brumley, Louisiana’s Division of Administration, Commissioner of Administration Taylor Barras, Louisiana’s Department of Treasury, and state Treasurer John Fleming are defendants in the lawsuit. Fleming is currently running for U.S. Senate in the Republican primary taking place June 27.
The governor’s office is “very confident” in its legal position, said Landry’s spokeswoman Elizabeth Crochet Thursday.
The advocates allege an executive order Landry issued earlier this month violates the state constitution. If approved by lawmakers, it would require money to be moved out of a fund for K-12 school operations for a fourth round of annual teacher and school support staff stipends worth $2,000 and $1,000 respectively.
The governor does not have the constitutional authority to cut money out of Louisiana’s school funding formula, known as the Minimum Foundation Program, or to redirect that money toward teachers' stipends, according to the lawsuit. He is impinging on the constitutional responsibilities of the Legislature and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, they said.
The advocates are also challenging the use of a remote balloting system by the legislature to approve the governor’s plan. Two-thirds of lawmakers in each chamber must vote in favor of Landry’s proposal in order for it to go into effect . They have to cast their ballots virtually by 5 p.m. Tuesday.
The advocates have said the virtual voting illegally circumvents a more deliberative process that would include public hearings and open debate among the lawmakers before casting votes on Landry’s proposal.
On June 2, the day after the legislative session ended, Landry issued an executive order directing the Louisiana Department of Education to move $168 million from school operations and use it for public school staff stipends if the legislature approved the plan.
Landry and lawmakers had initially been relying on voters to approve a constitutional amendment on May 16 to free up state funding for a permanent teacher and school staff pay raise to replace the stipends.
When the amendment failed, the governor and lawmakers scrambled to come up with an alternative teacher pay plan that didn’t require large funding cuts from parts of the state budget that aren’t related to public schools.
Landry has repeatedly said he believes school districts can absorb the cuts to their operational funding, which is used for expenses such as facility upkeep and insurance. But school superintendents and school board members from across the state have criticized the proposal as impractical and difficult to adopt.
A preliminary hearing on the education advocates’ injunction is scheduled for June 29.
