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T u e s d ay, a p r i l 1, 2025
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Teachers pay hike uncertain No plans in place after Louisiana voters rejected constitutional amendment
BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Deborah Harris, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries permitted wildlife rehabilitator for East Baton Rouge, feeds a baby raccoon with a syringe at her home rehabilitation building recently.
WILDLIFE
SUPPORT
La. rehabilitators, veterinarians experience an influx of animals this time of year
BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer
About a dozen animals around the room watch as Deborah Harris fills a thin syringe with kitten milk replacement to feed her newest additions: four newborn raccoons. She has to do this five times a day and throughout the night for several days until the 3-week-old raccoons can start suckling a bottle on their own. “It’s just like baby care,” the Baton Rouge wildlife rehabilitator said.
In a room at her house with a “Raccoon Crossing” sign above it, Harris is caring for young raccoons and opossums, a beaver, a skunk and five turtles — as well as the four newborns. These baby raccoons were found in an attic separated from their mother, so Harris stepped in to fill that role. The intense feeding schedule is a testament to her dedication to animals — and also that not just anyone can take care of stranded
Deborah Harris pets her only male turtle at her home rehabilitation ä See WILDLIFE, page 7A building.
After voters on Saturday rejected a constitutional amendment that would have funded higher salaries for teachers, it’s unclear whether educators will still receive a raise next school year or instead see their paychecks shrink. One of four constitutional changes championed by Gov. Jeff Landry that failed to pass over the ä Lawmakers are weekend, Amendment 2 working on an would have made one-time alternative plan pay stipends the Legislaafter the defeat of ture approved last year an amendment to — $2,000 for teachers and change state tax $1,000 for support staff — a recurring part of their policy. PAGE 5A salaries. But now, without funding for permanent raises and with the stipends set to expire after this school year, there are no plans to keep teacher pay at its current level. As a result, Louisiana educators could see their paychecks decrease unless the Legislature finds funding for another round of stipends or a permanent increase. While campaigning for the amendment, Landry said there was no alternative plan to raise teacher salaries: “If Amendment 2 does not pass,” he posted on X last week, “there is no backup stipend.” When asked Monday, a spokesperson for Landry did not say whether the governor would support additional stipends for teachers if lawmakers proposed them during the coming legislative session. “We tried to give them a permanent pay raise so our teachers never had to go back to the (Legislature) again to advocate for their money,” the spokesperson, Kate Kelly, said in a statement. She added Landry will “continue to advocate for structural reform to provide a permanent pay increase for our teachers.” However, it’s not clear how permanent raises would be possible without the funding that was expected to come from the passage of Amendment 2. If voters had approved the amendment, it would
ä See TEACHERS, page 5A
La. farmers react to end of USDA programs Cuts end aid to food banks, schools BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer
Betty Chenier started up her sideby-side on an early spring day at her small farm in Opelousas. She drove past large greenhouses and rows of crops. She inspected her recent plantings and then pointed to a pecan tree in the distance. “My husband said once, when the pecan trees start to sprout, that’s how you
WEATHER HIGH 82 LOW 72 PAGE 6B
really know when winter is over,” she said laughing. “No other superstitious stuff, just that one.” She returned to her inspection of tomatoes, garlic and onions, strawberries and sweet potatoes. But this year, her crops look more bare than usual, she said. “We usually have all this planted, but we’re not planting a lot of stuff because we don’t know what’s what,” Chenier said. The “what’s what” is in reference to recent Trump administration cuts to U.S. Department of Agriculture programs that helped food banks and
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STAFF PHOTO By STEPHEN MARCANTEL
John and Betty Chenier talk about the recent cuts to two U.S. Department of Agriculture programs. The programs ä See FARMERS, page 7A contributed to at least half of their business.
Business ......................6A Commentary ................5B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................6D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-5D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
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schools purchase food from small local farmers. The two federal programs, called Local Food for Schools and Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement, provided about $1 billion to schools and food banks across the nation. Louisiana food banks received around $13 million this year for the program, with Lafayette’s Second Harvest spending around $6 million across two years to Acadiana-area farmers. In 2023, the food purchase assistance
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100TH yEAR, NO. 275