Louisiana teacher salaries still lag behind Southern, US average

An analysis of the most recent public school teacher salary data shows Louisiana still lags behind most of its regional peers — and is likely to remain there despite its legislature adding $2,000 for the upcoming school year. 

The state’s teacher compensation is also well below the national average, according to the Public Affairs Research Council (PAR) of Louisiana’s continued look into public employee pay. The average K-12 teacher salary in Louisiana was $52,472 for the 2020-21 school year. That’s about $12,000 less than the national average, based on figures from the Southern Regional Education Board. 

PAR, an independent nonpartisan organization, obtained figures for 2021-22 from the Louisiana Department of Education that reveal a wide range of salaries across public school districts, from a high of $67,964 in Red River Parish to a low of $35,134 in East Feliciana Parish. In general, research found parishes with higher population tended to pay their public school teachers more.

Charter school districts typically compensate teachers better, but the state education department didn’t include their salaries in average calculations, according to PAR.

Louisiana trails six out of 10 Southern states based on average teacher pay from 2020-21, with Arkansas, Florida and Mississippi comprising the bottom three. Tennessee was just ahead of Louisiana in sixth place by less than $400.

Georgia paid its teachers the best at  $60,553.

Gov. John Bel Edwards had proposed a $3,000 annual raise for public school teachers, but state lawmakers took that number down to $2,000. The majority-Republican legislature also refused to make that increase permanent, instead turning it into a one-year stipend that would need to be approved again next year unless its baked into the school funding formula.

According to PAR, public school teachers in Louisiana have received $3,300 in salary hikes from state lawmakers and the governor since 2019, while school support staff such as cafeteria workers and classroom aides have gotten $1,650 in raises.