School superintendents to cut their budgets to pay for teacher stipends β but most school districts can afford it.
That was the message from the state auditor and some lawmakers during a meeting Tuesday focused on Landryβs recent executive order calling for the state to reduce public school funding by nearly $170 million for the coming school year to cover the cost of $2,000 pay bumps for teachers and $1,000 for school support staff. Lawmakers have until next Tuesday to vote on the order, which needs the approval of two-thirds of the Legislature to take effect.
Superintendents and school board members have warned that the roughly 5% reduction in state funding could force them to cut positions or programs, and they have privately and publicly urged lawmakers to reject the plan.
But Louisiana Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack told lawmakers Tuesday that his office reviewed school system finances and concluded that nearly all of the stateβs roughly 70 school districts could weather the proposed cut, saying most have ample reserve funds to draw from.
βI honestly think this executive order can be executed,β he told lawmakers on the Legislative Audit Advisory Council.
In an interview after the meeting, he added that Landry's plan could pose challenges for four or five school districts with little or no rainy-day funds, but he argued that βa large majority should have no issues doing this one year, one time.β
According to data from the auditorβs office, school districts have about $1.8 billion in their βunassigned fund balances,β or extra revenue that has not been committed to a specific expense. Districts might use the money to pay for future building projects, cover expenses when revenue is down or respond to emergencies, such as hurricanes.
Most school districts could backfill the state funding cut with reserve funds, the data show. However, just over a third of districts β 25 of 69 β do not have enough to cover the cut and still meet the auditorβs recommendation to maintain a rainy-day fund equivalent to at least 16.7% of their revenues, the data show.
Still, the conclusion by the auditor β who reports to the Legislature and is independent from the governor β that most school systems have enough available money to manage Landryβs proposed funding cut could provide cover to lawmakers who have struggled with how to vote. Some legislators say they donβt support paying for teacher stipends by cutting education, but they also donβt want to vote against Landry, who could veto funding for local projects, according to people who have spoken privately with lawmakers.
Sen. Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria, who chairs the Legislative Audit Advisory Council, said after the meeting that he would have preferred for the state to cover the cost of the stipends, as it did the past three years, rather than take the money out of school district budgets. Still, he said he intends to vote for Landryβs order because he doesnβt want educators to lose the stipends, and because the fund balance figures suggest that most districts can cover the cost.
βIt's only a handful of them that really don't have the funds to do it,β he said.
Budget constraints
Tuesday was the first public meeting where lawmakers discussed Landryβs executive order, which he issued after the legislative session ended June 1. Much of the meeting focused on school districtsβ fund balances, which Landry says are full enough to cover the $168 million cost of this yearβs stipends.
Some school board members and superintendents spoke at the meeting, where several argued that dipping into districtsβ rainy-day funds could potentially lower their bond ratings and make it harder to respond to unexpected expenses. Louisiana School Boards Association Executive Director Janet Pope noted that it can take the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, years to reimburse schools for hurricane-related repairs.
If school systems βwouldn't have had those reserve funds sitting thereβ for previous hurricanes, she said, βthey wouldn't have gotten those school buildings opened as quickly as they did.β
Some district leaders challenged the auditorβs analysis, saying it relies on data from the fiscal year that ended in 2025 that is no longer accurate. For example, the report shows that Caldwell Parish had about $4 million in unassigned reserve funds last year, but the districtβs business manager said they will end this fiscal year with a deficit.
βI would love to give every teacher in our parish a $2,000 raise,β said Randy Rentz, vice president of the Caldwell Parish School Board. βWe don't have the money to do it.β
Luneau said Tuesday that the state could potentially provide extra money to districts without enough reserve funds to cover the stipends. And Landry posted on social media Monday that districts did not have to give teachers the stipends if they already are providing raises or bonuses of at least $2,000, though districts said theyβre still waiting for details.
Rep. Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge, said that flexibility will be helpful for districts like East Baton Rouge, which is raising salaries for new teachers by $6,000. But he also questioned why it should only be up to school districts, and not the state, to boost teacher pay.
βWe're putting more burden on the locals,β he said, βand in some ways sort of giving the state a pass.β