Louisiana Lawmakers Target Teacher Pay Gap in 2026

LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL News) — Louisiana lawmakers are taking two direct swings at the state’s teacher recruitment and retention problem this session. A pair of bills filed in the 2026 Legislature would require school districts to steadily raise teacher pay to match the Southern regional average and give educators a guaranteed six weeks of paid parental leave, benefits the state’s public school workforce has gone without for years.

The proposals, HB 558 and SB 157, don’t share a sponsor, but together they address a pair of issues that have driven teachers out of Louisiana classrooms for decades: pay that can’t compete with neighboring states, and working conditions that offer little flexibility for growing families.

Get our free mobile app

Where Louisiana Teacher Pay Stands Right Now

The state’s teacher salary problem is well-documented. Louisiana’s average teacher salary runs just under $60,000, based on 2024 data from the state Department of Education. The national average from the National Education Association sits at $72,030. That gap is around $12,000, and HB 558, filed by Rep. Echols, aims to close it at the regional level first.

(Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

The Southern Regional Education Board, or SREB, tracks compensation across 16 Southern states. Louisiana has long trailed that regional average, too. The variation within the state is stark: Red River Parish teachers average more than $80,000 annually, while teachers in Tensas Parish average just $35,690, according to state data.

What HB 558 Would Do

Rep. Echols’ Teacher Pay Modernization Act sets up a four-year phase-in requiring every school governing authority, school boards, charter schools, and state special schools to adjust teacher salary schedules to reach the SREB’s regional average.

The timeline breaks down like this:

FY 2027–2028: Each district must close at least 25% of the gap between its local average and the Southern regional average
FY 2028–2029: Close at least 50% of the remaining gap
FY 2029–2030: Close at least 75% of the remaining gap
FY 2030–2031 and beyond: Every district’s average teacher salary must equal or exceed the Southern regional average

The bill gives the state Department of Education a reporting role. LDOE would have to submit a salary comparison report to the education and appropriations committees by October 1, 2026, covering each district’s average, the statewide average, and the SREB figure. Annual reports would follow.

The legislation also explicitly locks down how any appropriated money can be spent. Funds go directly to base salary schedules rather than bonuses, one-time stipends, retirement costs, or administrative salaries. Compliance audits are written into the bill.

There is a major condition: the salary adjustment mandates in Section 3 of the bill only kick in if the 2027 Legislature appropriates specific money for implementation, and that appropriation becomes law. The bill’s reporting requirements, however, take effect immediately upon the governor’s signature.

The legislation also requires each of Louisiana’s 20 executive branch departments to submit annual reports identifying potential consolidation of functions, elimination of positions, and other efficiency efforts that could generate savings to fund teacher raises.

What SB 157 Would Do

Sen. Jenkins’ Parental Leave for Educators Act would require every city, parish, and local public school board to provide six weeks (240 hours) of paid parental leave at 100% of an eligible employee’s base pay.

The bill covers birth, stillbirth, adoption, and foster placement. It also covers prenatal and postnatal appointments related to those events.

To qualify, an educator must be classified as a teacher under Louisiana’s tenure law and have worked for the school system for at least 12 months. Part-time employees qualify on a prorated basis.

Key provisions:

Paid parental leave cannot be conditioned on first exhausting sick or annual leave
Leave runs concurrently with any FMLA leave the employee is entitled to
Both parents, if both are eligible educators, can take leave at the same time, one after the other, or at separate times — their call
Unused leave within a qualifying event period can be banked and used for a second qualifying event in the same 12-month stretch
School boards must allow substitute teachers to fill positions while educators are on leave, but substitutes don’t accumulate tenure rights

The bill creates a dedicated "Paid Parental Leave For Educators Fund" in the state treasury to reimburse school districts for the cost of substitutes covering teachers on leave. Like HB 558’s salary mandates, the leave benefit is subject to legislative appropriation. Implementation is set for January 1, 2027, with rules due from LDOE by November 1, 2026.

SB 157 also adds strong employee protections. It bars school systems from counting parental leave as an absence for discipline purposes, prohibits retaliation for requesting or using the leave, and gives aggrieved employees 24 months to file a grievance if their rights are violated.

Get our free mobile app

Trying to Win Back Teachers

Louisiana’s teacher shortage isn’t a new story, but the 2026 session appears to be shaping up as a pressure point. Teachers in the state have received one-time stipend payments in recent years — money that doesn’t factor into the official salary averages and doesn’t follow a teacher from year to year.

The SREB’s teacher compensation data shows that the South overall lags the national teacher salary average by roughly 15%. Louisiana sits near the bottom even within that regional context. The NEA lists Mississippi, Florida, and Missouri among the states with the lowest average teacher pay in the country — Louisiana runs in that same tier.

HB 558 and SB 157 are both in the early stages of the session and have not yet been scheduled for committee hearings. Whether either clears the Legislature and earns the governor’s signature remains to be seen, but both bills put a number and a deadline on problems Louisiana educators have long raised.

You Might Also Like...