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THE
ADVOCATE T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
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F r i d ay, J u n e 12, 2026
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EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
Big raises approved for teachers Increases average $8,500 a year BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer
Salaries for public schoolteachers in East Baton Rouge Parish are increasing by an average of $8,500 a year, thanks to big raises approved Thursday for the vast majority of employees of the state’s second-largest traditional school
district. The pay increases are part of a sweeping overhaul of how East Baton Rouge pays its roughly 6,000 employees. For many, it will be the biggest pay raise in decades. The new, generous salary schedule fulfills longstanding promises made by current School Board members and Superintendent
LaMont Cole to greatly increase employee compensation. “We’re finally coming to the spot where this is feasible and doable,” said board member Mike Gaudet, a longtime proponent of overhauling school salaries. “It’s a true community effort,” Cole said, but hinted that there is more to come. “Let’s go higher,” he added. Starting teachers will see their salaries increase from $50,000 to
$56,000 a year. That $6,000 boost makes East Baton Rouge one of the highest paying school districts in the state — sixth out of 69 — and second in the Baton Rouge region. Only Iberville Parish, where teachers currently start at $60,506 a year, pays more. However, Thursday’s unanimous yes vote is a gamble. School leaders are paying the initial extra payroll costs, estimated at $21.8 million, by drawing deeply from
GETTING THEIR KICKS
BR soccer fans plan trips, watch parties for the World Cup
financial reserves, which are at historic highs. These leaders are banking on future increases in local sales and property taxes to help them sustain this historic, ongoing expense. They are also anticipating unspecified future savings from closing schools — nine this past year — as well as other future moves to bring down spending.
ä See RAISES, page 7A
ELECTION 2026
Early voting begins
Senate primaries, other races on ballots in La. BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
Sarai Lewis, left, wearing a Mexico kit, smiles as Robert Harrison, wearing a South Africa kit, reacts to a close play in the first half of the World Cup game while at Pelican to Mars on Thursday. BY JOY HOLDEN Staff writer
Baton Rouge is a football town, but Friday night belongs to the other football. When the U.S. men’s national team opens World Cup play against Paraguay at 8 p.m., the region’s soccer fans will be watching — some at parties around town, others traveling to see matches in person in Houston and Miami. The last World Cup in the United States was in 1994. That tournament had 24
teams competing at nine venues across the country. The 2026 World Cup has 48 teams and 104 matches spread across North America from Mexico City to Texas to Massachusetts to Toronto. This year’s final match is scheduled for July 19 in New Jersey. When the Rev. Brady Whitton, senior pastor at First United Methodist Baton Rouge, found out World Cup games were going to be played in Houston, he knew he had to take his soccer-loving son, Aidan.
The minister went online and bought tickets. The tickets cost more than he’d planned. He bought them anyway. Whitton said he’s not a huge soccer fan, but his son lives and breathes the sport. “He’s 18,” Whitton said. “The World Cup’s not going to come to the United States again anytime soon. So, this was his Christmas present and birthday present. This will be a once-in-a-lifetime father-
ä See KICKS, page 6A
Seven days of early voting begin Friday throughout Louisiana in advance of the June 27 election. The marquee races will be separate party primaries to elect the Democratic and Republican nominees who will face off in November to ä What’s replace U.S. Sen. Bill on the Cassidy. ballot. U.S. Rep. Julia LetPAGE 2B low is the favorite against state Treasurer John Fleming in the higherprofile Republican runoff. Farmer Jamie Davis and business owner Gary Crockett are vying for the Democratic nomination. The Senate race is the only statewide election. Also on the Republican primary ballot are races for the Public Service Commission and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to represent parishes mostly in metro New Orleans. The PSC election pits state Rep. Stephanie Hilferty against former Jefferson Parish President John Young to represent an area that includes a portion of New Orleans, the suburban parishes around New Orleans and Livingston, St.
ä See VOTING, page 7A
Man accused of running down BRPD officer found unfit for trial BY QUINN COFFMAN
charges Thursday. A sanity commission’s report found that Black was not in a menGad Black, accused of fatally tal state to be able to work with running down Baton Rouge police his attorneys, thus making him Sgt. Caleb Eisworth almost a year unable to stand trial. The report ago, was found mentally unfit to overturned a December ruling stand trial on first-degree murder that the 42-year-old was competent
Staff writer
WEATHER HIGH 92 LOW 74 PAGE 8B
for trial. Black was ordered by a judge to East Louisiana State Hospital until a future point where his competency will be reevaluated, East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore said Thursday. And if Black is deemed able to
work with his counsel, an additional evaluation will be conducted to determine again if he “knew right from wrong at the time of the offense,” Moore said, meaning the case is far from concluded. Black is awaiting bed space at the facility.
Business ......................3B Commentary ................7B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....4D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
An April 13 in-court outburst from Black gave his attorneys an opportunity to again question his sanity, with Black speaking erratically and requesting to represent himself. His statements were
ä See UNFIT, page 7A
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