Louisiana Teachers Deserve Better
Yes, I know Louisiana ranks 46th in teacher pay.
Yes, I know the state pays teachers $5,000 less than the estimated living wage.
And yes, despite all that, I still dream of becoming a teacher.
Of course, I value my self-worth.
Even Mississippi Does Better
Yes, I know even Mississippi treats its teachers better.
But there’s always a catch—you’d have to live in Mississippi.
A Governor’s Choices
If I were governor, I would’ve handled the special tax session very differently.
First, I wouldn’t tie a $2,000 teacher pay raise to a constitutional amendment overhauling the state’s tax structure.
The raise is nothing more than a Trojan horse.
If I were governor, I’d tie the raise to the simple fact that teachers deserve one.
What’s the 8g Fund?
Yes, I know about the 8g fund.
Legally, it’s called the Louisiana Quality Education Support Fund. And that it’s a fund that pays for things we take for granted, like textbooks, scholarships, teacher training, early childhood programs, research, and even upgrades to the facilities.
But, in exchange for a $2,000 raise, 8g would be gutted, along with other education-related funds.
Robbing Peter to Pay Paul
Yes, that sounds like robbing Peter to pay Paul.
What kind of Paul wouldn’t welcome the money?
We don’t know yet if this plan cuts off our nose to spite our face.
Since legislators passed a sales tax hike, $2,000 might go far for some.
Sure, it’s just $2,000 to you, but to others, that’s over 10,000 pennies.
The Special Tax Session: Lipstick on a Pig
Don’t get me started on the special tax session.
To keep it short, I think Governor Landry just used it to slap lipstick on Louisiana’s tax structure.
He wants national rating agencies to call us “business-friendly.”
It’s all there in HB7. Yes, it reeks of Bobby Jindal.
March: The Pickle of All Pickles
Come March, voters will face one hell of a pickle.
Do we approve the amendment, give teachers a raise, and let Landry wreak havoc on taxes?
Or, do we reject it and leave teachers underpaid?
Yes, WBOK would call that a conundrum. Pickles define our lives here.
HB7 and Civic Duty
HB7 spans 140 pages.
Between now and March, we have a lot of reading to do.
That’s our civic duty, isn’t it?
I just hope people are paying attention.
Looking Ahead
Yes, I think voters will reject this, along with that nonsense amendments to put kids in adult prisons.
But you’re right—we shall see.
Columnist — Black Source Media
Kenneth Cooper
Veteran New Orleans Journalist • Columnist • Cooper’s Collage
Kenneth Cooper is a veteran New Orleans journalist whose column, Cooper’s Collage, has become one of Black Source Media’s most distinctive voices. He writes the way New Orleans thinks — in multiple directions at once, connecting the sardonic to the serious, the political to the personal, never letting a target escape without a precisely aimed observation.
Cooper covers Louisiana and New Orleans politics, Saints football, and the cultural life of Black New Orleans with the authority that comes from decades of watching the same cast of characters fail in the same predictable ways. His format is the collage — several subjects, one through-line, each section ending with a pivot that lands harder than it looked coming.
He is unimpressed by politicians of any party and unafraid of uncomfortable truths. He does not perform outrage. He delivers verdicts. Cooper’s Collage publishes on Black Source Media and is required reading for anyone who wants to understand New Orleans without the official version.
TEACHERS, DO NEED A RAISE BUT, SO DOES EVERYONE WORKING FOR MINIMUM WAGES. HOTELS CAN INCREASE THEIR ROOM RATES, SO WHY NOT INCREASE WORKERS SALARIES. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME THE LA. STATE/GOVERNOR GAVE A PAY RAISE TO REFLECT THE INCREASES OF THE ECONOMY?
GIVE LA. STATE WORKERS A RAISE,
BEFORE YOU RAISE ANY TAXES PLEASE!