Louisiana public schools will foot the bill for teacher stipends under Gov. Jeff Landry’s order that takes effect Wednesday.
Education advocates sued to block Landry's plan but dropped their case this week, describing the legal process as “drawn-out and difficult,” and “with uncertain prospects for success.”
They had been trying to admit new counsel and schedule another hearing ahead of Wednesday’s deadline.
Plaintiffs said they still believe Landry lacks the authority to redirect the funding and that the last-minute budget cut will hurt schools.
“We continue to believe without any equivocation that this reallocation is short-sighted and misguided and should have been approached in a more public and transparent way,” the plaintiffs said in a statement.
Landry signed an executive order in early June, ordering the state to reduce funding for local school districts by $168 million and to use the money to give teachers and some other staff $2,000 and $1,000 stipends, respectively. The fiscal year starts on July 1.
In the past, lawmakers have added money to the state’s budget for stipends. But this year, Landry argued that schools could afford to pay for them, a view superintendents have disagreed with.
The order required lammakers to approve the plan, which they overwhelmingly did, voting remotely since the session had already wrapped.
A survey by the state’s largest teachers union found that most respondents want a stipend but oppose the governor’s plan. Union leaders said they don't want them to be at school districts' expense.
Mike Faulk, a former superintendent and plaintiff in the lawsuit, said Landry’s order and the legislature’s remote vote violate the state’s constitution and that “serious, troubling precedents are being set through this reallocation of funds.”
A judge issued a temporary restraining order when plaintiffs filed their suit earlier this month, but lifted it on Monday.
Judge Richard "Chip" Moore of the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge also granted the state's motion to disqualify plaintiffs’ counsel, Baker Donelson. The law firm represents Louisiana in a separate lawsuit and didn’t obtain the state's permission to take on the case.
"This was a very serious conflict, and the court got it right," Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement. "A law firm cannot represent the governor in one courtroom and sue him in another without proper consent."
Moore never heard either side's arguments in the case.
In a statement, Landry thanked Murrill's office for "defending the law and the commitment we made to Louisiana teachers."
"Today's ruling clears the way for us to move forward with the teacher pay raise that educators across our state have earned and deserve," he said.
