JEFFERSON – The president of the Jefferson Parish Federation of Teachers told Eyewitness News on Tuesday night that teachers’ salaries are the lowest compared to their neighboring parishes.
However, Eyewitness News found statistics that put the claim on shaky ground.
In several states, teachers have walked off the job, protesting better pay and school funding. In Jefferson Parish, many public school teachers will receive a $2,000 stipend by the end of the year. At Tuesday night’s school meeting, teachers bluntly laid out their financial situation.
"We're doing more with less. Less...every day,” teacher Susan Nugent said.
"I love the kids at my school. I really do. And I want to stay here. But in order to have that, I've got to have a little bit of better pay,” one man at the meeting said.
In lobbying for better pay, Cathy Johnson, president of the Jefferson Federation of Teachers said, “"We also have trouble recruiting because our salaries are the lowest in the 8 surrounding parishes, ours is the lowest."
According to the Louisiana Department of Education, statistics from 2017 to 2018 show the average teacher salary without extra pay in Jefferson Parish was not the lowest in ten parishes surrounding Jefferson Parish. The lowest would be Washington Parish, where teacher salaries average $41,610.
Next would be Lafourche Parish with average salaries of $45,954.
Jefferson Parish actually comes in third with an average salary of $47,050, so Eyewitness News cannot verify that claim.
In a statement on Wednesday, Johnson clarified her claim, saying she was referring to starting salaries for teachers.
According to numbers by the Jefferson Parish School System, rookie teachers in Jefferson Parish start out making $40,949, which according to its list, trails many parishes in South Louisiana. The list, however does not specify the years the data was compiled.