SHREVEPORT, La. — Employees of the Caddo Parish Public School System will receive a 6% pay raise beginning July 1 following action by the Caddo Parish School Board, though the decision came after extensive debate over how the additional funding should be distributed.
Discussion at Tuesday night's board meeting centered on whether a flat percentage increase was the most equitable way to allocate the raises and whether state funding sources could provide a long-term solution to educator compensation concerns.
While the board ultimately approved the 6% raise, some educators and employee advocates argued the increase falls short of addressing longstanding concerns about compensation.
Red River United Executive Officer Jackie Lansdale criticized the plan, saying the raise would have a limited impact on many employees.
"A six percent raise probably will mean you can't even buy a tank of gas," Lansdale said. "Our position is we want to make sure we have the most qualified people we can find."
School board members Terence Vinson and Jasmine Green made a last-minute push to revise the proposed distribution model, suggesting a tiered approach that would provide larger increases to lower-paid employees.
"There's so many different things that you can do," Green said. "It's just if a person's willing to do it. You could maybe take a certain percentage of salary and say, 'Hey, if you make from this to this, you get this.'"
The debate over raises comes as school districts across Louisiana continue to grapple with teacher recruitment and retention challenges.
Adding another layer to the discussion are questions surrounding Gov. Jeff Landry's June 2 Executive order, which seeks to redirect $168 million in public education funding to support teacher stipends. If approved, the funding could allow Caddo Parish to offset the cost of the raises.
Critics, however, argue the governor's proposal offers only a temporary solution rather than a permanent increase in educator pay.
"Teachers have been getting annual stipends year after year after year," Vinson said. "My position is that we should take those dollars potentially from that annual stipend and put it into the raise."
Supporters of permanent salary increases contend that recurring raises provide greater financial stability for educators than one-time stipend payments.
The compensation debate comes as Louisiana continues to rank near the bottom nationally in teacher pay. According to a 2026 report from the National Education Association, Louisiana teachers remain among the lowest-paid educators in the country.
The approved raises will take effect July 1.