News

Longtime union leader Prentiss “Penny” Ferguson has received the Pioneer Award from the Louisiana Federation of Teachers. The award is presented annually to individuals who, over the years, made major contributions to the growth and influence of the LFT.

Addressing some 200 delegates to the 46th annual Louisiana Federation of Teachers convention in Lake Charles on November 22, LFT President Steve Monaghan called upon Gov. Bobby Jindal and the state legislature to make “better choices for a better Louisiana.”

In his State of the Union address, Monaghan said that much of the financial crisis facing the state was caused by decisions made over the past few years. Unless better choices are made, he said, the state faces a bleak future.

Financial crisis could wipe out gains made over the years, says LFT president

(Baton Rouge – October 30, 2010) A recent announcement that average teacher salaries in Louisiana have risen by 85% over the past 15 years may be a tribute to the accomplishments of the past, but says little about the challenges of the future, according to Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan.

(Baton Rouge – October 20, 2010) As the state’s top school board begins grappling with the prospect of even more cuts to public education, Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan urged board members “to see that the crisis we are in is real” and to embrace choices that strengthen communities and schools.

(Baton Rouge – October 18, 2010) Unless Governor Bobby Jindal and the legislature can agree on some new funding sources, “the dismantling of education will be the coffin that we bury Louisiana in for decades to come,” Senator Ben Nevers (D-Bogalusa) told the Press Club of Baton Rouge today.

In an effort to overturn a decision against a recruiting company charged with victimizing Filipino teachers hired to work in Louisiana schools, attorney Murphy J. Foster went on the offensive Monday against the unions representing the foreign teachers.

Hundreds of Filipino guestworkers lured to teach in Louisiana public schools were cheated out of tens of thousands of dollars and forced into exploitative contracts by an international trafficking ring run by labor contractors, according to a class action lawsuit filed August 5 by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and Covington & Burling LLP. 

As promised, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Act 749, Governor Bobby Jindal’s “Red Tape Reduction and Local Waiver Empowerment Program.” Joining LFT in the lawsuit, filed in the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge, are the East Baton Rouge Federation of Teachers and the Jefferson Federation of Teachers.

(Baton Rouge – June 18, 2010) The Louisiana Federation of Teachers will file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of HB 1368, the so-called “Red Tape Reduction and Local Waiver Empowerment Program,” Federation President Steve Monaghan announced today

(June 16, 2010) On Tuesday evening, the Senate joined the House of Representatives in surrendering its lawmaking authority to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. By a 23-14 vote, the Senate approved HB 1368 by Rep. Jane Smith (R-Bossier City), the so-called Red Tape Reduction and Local Waiver Empowerment program.

LFT strongly opposed the bill, calling it  a "misnamed and misleading" assault on public education and the separation of powers in state government