Governor John Bel Edwards released his legislative agenda aimed at improving the well-being of children and seniors. One of the bills included is West Monroe Representative Frank Hoffman’s proposal to reduce the requirements necessary for public school teachers to obtain tenure. Hoffman says the current requirements are unfair to educators.
Hoffman says that the bill still won't make obtaining tenure a "piece of cake." He says that if obtaining tenure is an option, it needs to be "fair to the teachers."
Currently, teachers must be rated “highly efficient” for five of six years to qualify. The bill would lower the requirement to “effective: proficient."
Hoffman says only 20 percent of teachers in a given year qualify for “highly efficient” status. He says his bill makes the requirements for tenure more reasonable.
According to Hoffman, scoring "effective: proficient" is still challenging to achieve because the level categorizes the "top half" of teachers in Louisiana.
West Virginia teachers recently won a strike for higher pay and benefits, and reports showed Louisiana teachers are paid about 2,000 dollars less per year than the regional average. Hoffman says this is the kind of legislation that will make sure Louisiana can attract and retain quality instructors.
Hoffman says that legislation benefiting teachers to attract "good people to teach our kids."
Hoffman is also proposing a bill that would alter the way the teacher evaluation system is weighed.