Teachers, union and advocates urge board to treat state stipend as floor; veteran salary-step disparity raised

Caddo Parish School Board, Shreveport — Two public speakers urged the Caddo Parish School Board on July 15 to treat recent state money for educators as a baseline and to correct an internal salary-step discrepancy that they say penalizes veteran teachers and reduces retirement benefits.

At a visitor comment period, Jordan Thomas, identified as president of Red River United, told the board that state payments the last three years have been “stipends” and warned they are not equivalent to raises. “They don't count toward retirement. They don't grow over time. They're Band Aids on a much bigger wound,” Thomas said, summarizing what advocates describe as the difference between temporary, one-time payments and permanent salary increases.

The state has provided $2,000 stipends for teachers and $1,000 for support staff in recent years, Thomas said. Citing a governor-backed constitutional amendment, she said the state proposes converting the stipend to a permanent pay item that would equal $2,250 for teachers and $1,125 for support staff — effectively an additional $250 and $125 over the prior stipend, she said. Thomas urged the local board to view that change “as a floor” and to take local action to offer further, permanent raises; she also noted Caddo has not given a raise since February 2017.

Carl McDaniel, president of the Caddo Federation of Teachers, raised a separate but related concern about how the district placed long-serving teachers on a new step schedule in 2013 under Louisiana Act 1. McDaniel said the district converted many existing salaries to lower step placements than the educators’ actual years of service would warrant. He gave an example: teachers hired from outside Caddo with 22 years of experience are now placed on step 22, while many Caddo veterans with 22 years are on step 17, a disparity McDaniel said reduces his annual pay by about $3,000 and permanently lowers his retirement benefit.

McDaniel said roughly 2,192 teachers work in the district and that about 700 had been employed before the 2013 change; he asked the board to “direct the administration to correct the salary discrepancy that penalizes our veteran employees.” He framed the issue as one of trust and retirement security: “Please don't continue to take money out of our pockets,” he told the board.

No formal board action to change compensation or to direct staff on the step-conversion issue was recorded in the meeting minutes. Board members did not vote on either request during the July 15 session. Several board members later asked for more information on fiscal implications during other agenda items but did not issue directives on pay or retirement in this meeting.

The comments came amid broader public testimony about staffing, student performance and policy changes on the same agenda. Thomas and McDaniel asked the board to consider local revenue or budget reallocation to supplement any state action and to correct internal salary-placement practices that affect retirement calculations.

The board did not adopt new pay policy or order a study at the meeting; both speakers requested follow-up from the superintendent and the board.

For follow-up: the transcript shows the two public comments and the specific amounts cited. The district's formal payroll and retirement calculations would determine the budget impact of any corrective step placement or local raises.