N O L A.C O M
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M o n d ay, J u n e 9, 2025
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LOUISIANA TEACHERS FACE PAY STRUGGLES
STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
State Sen. Jimmy Harris, D-New Orleans
Harris brings millions home to N.O.
Under-the-radar Democrat navigates Legislature BY JAMES FINN Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By BRETT DUKE
Melanie Cade, a special education teacher in Jefferson Parish and single mother of two, says she has to rely on family support and take on extra jobs like DoorDash to make ends meet.
Lawmakers debate raising educator salaries BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer
Melanie Cade wasn’t sure how she felt when the package arrived on her doorstep last year with a red DoorDash delivery bag inside. As a single mother of two and a special education teacher in Jefferson Parish, working for the online service would offer Cade a little extra cash — on top of her other part-time tutoring gig — to supplement her salary. But it was also a reminder of how difficult it has been to make ends meet. When the bag came, Cade’s 7-year-old daughter asked why she needed to work another job. Cade herself wasn’t so sure. “How is this my life?” she recalled thinking. As living costs continue to rise, Cade’s experience isn’t far from that of teachers across Louisiana. Many struggle to pay their bills and provide for their families, despite often having multiple degrees and frequently working outside of school hours to plan lessons and take
Jimmy Harris was on the edge of accomplishing the impossible. The soft-spoken state senator from New Orleans was hours from securing millions of dollars for a new power station for the city’s rickety flooding system. A Democrat, he had leveraged years-old relationships with Republican leaders, navigating the pressures of a polarized Legislature and an ascendant GOP governor to land the deal. Then he got a call. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell had just trashed him in a public meeting over another bill, to reform the city’s Sewerage & Water Board. Harris had spent weeks drafting
ä See HARRIS, page 3A
Melanie Cade shows a Mother’s Day card her son Jack made for her at her home in St. Rose. care of students. Lawmakers have long debated raising the pay of the state’s public school teachers, who make about $5,000 less on average than their counterparts in other Southern states and $15,000 less than the national average, according to data from the Southern Regional Education Board. This year, after voters rejected a
constitutional amendment that included a mechanism to fund permanent teacher raises, the Legislature appears likely to pass one-time stipends for the third year in a row to keep teacher pay at its current level. From taking on additional duties at
ä See TEACHERS, page 4A
Scammers utilizing crypto ATM machines
Schemes have become more sophisticated
National Guard faces off with L.A. protesters BY ERIC THAYER and JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Tear gas was fired at protesters in Los Angeles on Sunday when some demonstrators moved close to National Guard troops and shouted insults at them, hours after President Donald Trump’s extraordinary deployment of the military over the objections of the governor and mayor.
WEATHER HIGH 93 LOW 76 PAGE 6B
The confrontation broke out as hundreds of people protested in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, where several of the newly arrived National Guard troops stood shoulder to shoulder behind plastic riot shields. Video showed uniformed officers shooting off the smoke-filled canisters as they advanced into the street, forcing protesters to retreat. It was not
immediately clear what prompted the use of chemical irritants or which law enforcement agency fired them. Minutes later, loud popping sounds erupted again, as some protesters chanted “go home” and “shame.” One person was taken to the ground by uniformed officers. Another appeared to be bleeding from their head.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JAE HONG
National Guard troops stand outside the federal prison Sunday in Los Angeles, following a immigration raid ä See GUARD, page 4A protest the night before.
Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................3B Nation-World................2A Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Commentary ................5B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
BY AIDAN McCAHILL Staff writer
When Danny Foret’s computer froze one morning, a window flashed on the screen urging him to call Microsoft customer support. But after he dialed the number, Foret says, his minor headache turned disastrous. The support agent informed him his computer had been hacked, giving someone access to his bank account: $9,000 had been spent at a child pornography site, with another $4,000 siphoned toward online gambling. Panic set in, Foret recalls, but the voice on the other end was
ä See SCAMMERS, page 5A
12TH yEAR, NO. 301