Louisiana Federation of Teachers is the Louisiana state-level affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). ¹  The union represents teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel, and higher education faculty and staff. ²

Background

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers, prior to becoming an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in 1965, has previously advocated on union-related activity within the state as far back as 1932 ³ In 1974, under the leadership of union activist Nat LaCour, the organization secured the first collective bargaining agreement with a local school district in the Deep South. ³

As of December 2024, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers claimed to have a membership of 13,952, ⁴ making it that state’s largest teacher’s union. ⁵

Finances

Louisiana Federation of Teachers receives contributions through union dues. In 2018 the Baton Rouge local chapters received $2,509,896 in contributions, $1,763,252 from local 80169,⁶ the primary union for the state, as well as $671,754 from Baton Rouge local 1560,⁶ and $73,890 from Baton Rouge local 6529. ⁷ This is only the information available from chapters in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Other local chapters in Louisiana receive significant contributions, such as the local union in Metairie, Louisiana, which received $1,504,043 in contributions in 2018. ⁶

In 2020, Louisiana Federation of Teachers spent $167,101 on organization leadership’s medical and dental insurance, $9,243 on organization leadership’s life insurance, and $141,006 on pension-saving contributions. ⁸

According to the Louisiana Federation of Teachers’ 2024 financial disclosure forms, the union received $2,181,394 in revenue, $2,287,277 in expenses, and has $3,024,099 in assets. The union collected $324,228 in dues and $1,661,847 in a “per capita tax” assessed on affiliates. The union paid $14,114 in a “per capita tax” to the American Federation of Teachers and $154,533 in political activities and lobbying. The Louisiana Federation of Teachers paid $554,203 in benefits. The union gave $7,484 to the Jefferson Federation of Teachers, $7,802 to Red River United, and $8,311 to the St. Tammany Federation of Teachers. The Louisiana Federation of Teachers received $158,187 from the American Federation of Teachers. ⁴

As of 2024, Louisiana Federation of Teachers president Larry Carter makes $130,692 in salary and expenses. ⁴ As of 2024, the average teacher pay in Louisiana is $54,248. ⁹

Policy

Opposition to School Choice

In 2012 Louisiana Federation of Teachers sued the State of Louisiana and Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for carrying out Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 99 (“SCR 99”) and 2012 La. Acts 2. The laws earmarked funding for school voucher programs, subsidizing students attending nonpublic schools. Louisiana Federation of Teachers argued that the bills were unconstitutional because the Louisiana constitution required that all government funding for education be earmarked by the state board of education, not legislatures. ¹⁰

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers endorsed Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards (D), who held office from 2016 through 2024, in both his election campaigns. Edwards twice vetoed Education Savings Accounts legislation as of September 2023. ¹¹

In March 2024, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers opposed legislation to create Education Savings Accounts. The union claimed the legislation would defund public education and harm teachers. ¹²

Lobbying

Louisiana Federation of Teachers lobbied to pass Senate Bill 31, a statute that would prevent results from statewide student assessments in 2020 and 2021 from being used to evaluate the performance of teachers. ¹³

Louisiana Federation of Teachers lobbied to pass Senate Bill 298, a statute that would prevent the use of the Value Added Model (VAM) in determining teacher quality assessment scores. ¹⁴ The VAM is a statistical model that considers students’ capabilities prior to interacting with teachers, accounts for the average amount of growth to be expected over the course of the class, and then measures student capabilities after the class is over. The objective of the VAM is to determine how much value a given teacher adds beyond the average expected value in terms of improvement in student capabilities. ¹⁵

In April 2024, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers lobbied in favor of state House Bill 322 which prohibited school administrators from preventing or discouraging teachers from disciplining students. The bill also required students to be removed from the classroom if they disrupt orderly instruction, pose an immediate threat, or violate the school’s code of conduct. ¹⁶

Public Sector Unionization Bills

In June 2024, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers joined with AFSCME Council 17, the Louisiana Association of Educators, and the Louisiana AFL-CIO to oppose several pieces of legislation within the Louisiana state legislature that would have restricted government employees’ powers to unionize, banned automatic deduction of union dues from paychecks of state employees, and created new disclosure requirements on the state level. The legislation did not pass.  ¹⁷

Teacher Qualifications

In May 2023, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers opposed state Senate Bill 197, that would allow Louisiana school districts to hire bachelor’s degrees holders who were not formally certified as teachers and allow them to teach for a five-year period, after which they would receive their teaching certifications to meet a teaching shortage. The Louisiana Federation of Teachers would instead advocate in favor of pay increases for teachers. ¹⁸

Teacher Pay Increases

In May 2022, the Louisiana Senate Finance Committee approved a state budget that would include a $1,500 pay raise for teachers. The Louisiana Federation of Teachers opposed the legislation, supporting instead $2,000 teacher pay raises proposed by then-Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards (D). ¹⁹

In April 2023, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers released a survey claiming that one-third of its members worked a second job while also claiming that nearly all of its members surveyed did not make enough to raise a family. The survey also claimed 26 percent of surveyed teachers with the union used welfare programs to make ends meet. ²⁰

In February 2024, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers claimed that teachers in the state had not seen a $2,000 pay increase despite it previously being approved of by the state legislature. ²¹ That same month, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (R ) declined to support a permanent teacher pay increase, instead proposing a stipend. The Louisiana Federation of Teachers claimed Landry’s proposal was their “worst fears being realized” while further claiming that the lack of a stable salary increase would deter people from going into teaching. ²² In April 2024, the Louisiana House Appropriations Committee passed a spending bill that would decrease the stipends received by Louisiana state teachers from $2,000 to $1,300 while cutting roughly $24.3 million in early childhood education programs. The Louisiana Federation of Teachers. ²³

In September 2024, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers joined with local teachers’ unions and several members of the Louisiana legislature in advocating against Act 311, which would require Louisiana school districts to pay teachers at least $30 an hour for additional duties such as supervising afterschool clubs and even working the concession stand during school sporting events. ²⁴

In October 2024, Gov. Landry announced his support for making a series of temporary teacher pay increases permanent. The Louisiana Federation of Teachers supported the Governor’s decision, but argued more action was needed. The union also pushed for Louisiana lawmakers to further increase the pay for state teachers, claiming that state teachers make less than near the regional average of other Southern states. ²⁵

In November 2024, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers announced their support for House Bill 5, which would increase teacher pay by $2,000 while increasing support staff pay by $1,000 through savings made by House Bill 7, a proposed constitutional amendment that would eliminate multiple state education pools. However, the union did claim concern that the pay increase was not included in Louisiana’s public education funding formula, or the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP), arguing that it would make it  easier for the Louisiana legislature to eliminate the pay increase. ⁵

Recess

In May 2023, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers opposed state House Bill 121, which would have required schools to schedule at least one 15-minute recess a day for K-5 students. The union claimed this would only increase the school day while giving teachers more work. ²⁶

Opposition To Constitutional Convention

In May 2024, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers announced its opposition to a proposed state constitutional convention, claiming  that a new Louisiana constitution could be used to remove existing constitutional protections for government school funding. ²⁷

Leadership

Larry Carter is the president of Louisiana Federation of Teachers. ²⁸ Carter began working in the school system in 1993 and joined a union, United Teachers of New Orleans, the same year. After seven years of teaching, he joined union leadership. ²⁸ Carter also holds office as a vice president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). ²⁹

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