The Louisiana Association of Educators is a left-of-center teachers union representing teachers throughout the state of Louisiana with dozens of local affiliates in most of the state’s parishes and cities. The union is the state-level affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA), the largest teacher’s union in the United States. It is one of two statewide public-school teachers unions in the state, the other being the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The group operates a political action arm, the LAE Fund for Children and Public Education that endorses mostly Democratic candidates for state and federal office in Louisiana. The union lobbies for a variety of pro-union public education stances such as increased funding for public schools. ^{1 2 3}

Background and History

The Louisiana Association of Educators was formed in its current state in 1977 following desegregation when the predominately-black Louisiana Education Association, which had formed in 1901 as the Louisiana Colored Teachers Association, merged with the predominately-white Louisiana Teachers Association. The desegregation of the state teachers’ unions was encouraged by Gov Edwin Edwards, and the new union held its first joint rally at the state capitol in Baton Rouge shortly after the merger, supporting increased teacher pay. ^{4 5}

The union’s membership includes K-12 classroom teachers as well as teaching assistants, and the group has a chapter for retired teachers as well. The union’s “core values” include tenants regarding a “just society,” “equal opportunity,” and “Democracy.” ¹

Activity

The Louisiana Association of Educators lobbies for a variety of pro-union legislation at the state level, opposing many Republican-led efforts to expand school choice programs, and allow for limitation on union political activity and automatic membership renewal. ⁶

The union’s 2024 legislative wrap-up stated that the group opposed many legislative efforts dubbed by the union as “anti-union” including legislation that would disallow automatic payroll deductions for union membership as well as legislation “intended to eliminate agreed upon leave privileges of school employees in collective bargaining locals, eliminate an employee’s right to file a grievance, and repeal an educator’s first amendment right to even talk about unions or union activity at work without being prosecuted and/or arrested.” ⁷

The union also opposed an effort to call a state constitutional convention, stating that while the legislation to do so was not related to unions, a constitutional convention could “hurt” public education by rewriting or eliminating funding requirements for K-12 programs and expanding school choice programs. ⁷

The union claimed credit for drafting and introducing legislation sponsored by State Senator Blake Miguez in 2024 that required supplemental pay for teachers who were required to work through their 45-minute planning periods, among other scenarios. ⁷

Political Action Committee

The Louisiana Association of Educators operates a political action committee called the LAE Fund for Children and Public Education, which endorses candidates for office in the state, mostly endorsing Democrats. ⁸ The union appeared to endorse only six candidates for state legislature in 2023. ²

1. “Our Mission, Vision, and Values.” Louisiana Association of Educators. Accessed August 27, 2024. https://www.lae.org/about/our-mission-vision-values
2. “Louisiana Association of Educators.” Blue Voter Guide. Accessed August 27, 2024. https://bluevoterguide.org/endorser-org/Louisiana_Association_of_Educators_(LAE)/LA/2062
3. “Home.” Louisiana Federation of Teachers. Accessed August 27, 2024. https://la.aft.org/
4. “Our History.” Louisiana Association of Educators. Accessed August 27, 2024. https://www.lae.org/about/our-history
5. “Louisiana.” Black Teacher Archive, Harvard Libraries. https://curiosity.lib.harvard.edu/black-teacher-archive/feature/louisiana
6. Louisiana Association of Educators. Accessed August 27, 2024. https://www.lae.org/sites/lae/files/2024-06/the-voice-volume-20-no-2-june-2024_1.pdf
7. “LAE Voice Volume 20, Number 2: 2024 LEGISLATIVE WRAP-UP.” Louisiana Association of Educators. Accessed August 27, 2024. https://www.lae.org/sites/lae/files/2024-06/the-voice-volume-20-no-2-june-2024_1.pdf
8. “Endorsements: Louisiana Association of Educators.” Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/profile/100064748736744/search/?q=endorsements