Published: Feb. 26, 2021
By: Sydney McGovern and Brittney Forbes, LSU Manship School News Service
BATON ROUGE — The Edwards administration on Friday proposed a budget for fiscal 2022 that would use federal coronavirus aid to avoid cuts and provide more funds to K-12 and higher education.
The $36.6 billion budget provides annual pay increases of $400 to K-12 public school teachers and $200 for K-12 support staff, a proposal that teachers unions immediately criticized as too small.
Jay Dardenne, the commissioner of administration, told legislators that the budget also includes a $56 million increase in funding for the state’s higher education system, $19.8 million of which is intended for faculty pay raises.
Besides the increase for higher education, the $186 million in total increases in spending include:
Department of Education: $40 million for the teacher pay raises
TOPS scholarships and GO Grants for Louisiana college students: $23.2 million
Corrections and local housing for inmates: $59.4 million
Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness: $11.5 million
Net change in debt service: $14.3 million
Read more at hammondstar.com
LSU Manship School Statehouse Bureau 