Our Views: Vote to back teacher pay plan for better Jefferson schools

By Advocate Editorial

May 3, 2019

With broad backing of the parish’s leadership, including the business community and teachers unions at one time at odds, a new pay plan for Jefferson Parish teachers and school employees is a good proposal worthy of the support of voters today.

A 10-year, 7.9-mill property tax will fund the new pay plan, a key component of a broader strategic plan to improve public schools in the parish.

With Jefferson teacher salaries not competitive with neighboring parishes, too many promising classroom leaders have been getting their feet wet in Jefferson and then decamping for higher pay, and who can blame them? But based on a close analysis of the problem, the Jefferson board and Superintendent Cade Brumley have restructured the pay schedule — and much else in the system — to keep teachers and provide incentives to work in the tougher schools in the system.

The analysis of the Bureau of Governmental Research provided an independent endorsement of the new plan, but it also has earned endorsements across the political spectrum.

Even for voters with children in parochial schools, the fact is that most of the workers in Jefferson Parish in coming years will be from the public system. Improving their educational outcomes is a vital investment in improving the parish economically and socially.

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