82 uncertified teachers fill the void in Terrebonne public schools

Terrebonne Parish School Board officials cite finances as the driving force behind the district hiring more than 80 uncertified teachers for the 2014-15 school year.

A report submitted to the school board and made public at last Tuesday’s school board meeting shows that the district hired 82 degreed but uncertified teachers.

The report shows that 19 of the 31 schools within the school district’s umbrella hired uncertified teachers, including all of the junior high and high schools.

Legion Park Elementary led all schools with the hiring of 10 uncertified teachers, followed by Ellender High School with eight, Houma Junior High with seven and Evergreen Junior High with six.

“Those people are excellent people. They’re excellent human beings. They’re concerned about children, and we’re very pleased to have them. They’re not certified teachers. This is a cause of concern for this district,” said Terrebonne Parish Schools Superintendent Philip Martin.

The superintendent said that the schools district’s uncertified teachers are working on being certified and to continue their employment they must continue the certification effort. When an uncertified teacher is hired, an uncertified teacher will be bumped in every case.

Even though many students will be taught by uncertified teachers this school year, school board member Gregory Harding made his belief in those teachers clear.

“I want the department to know that when you say non-certified, they’re not certified, but I think all of them are qualified to be in the classroom even though they don’t have the certification, so I don’t want the wrong signal to go out,” Harding said.

The school board member also said that school district has always hired some amount of uncertified teachers throughout his about a decade-and-a-half tenure, however Martin contradicted that by later saying that in his second year as superintendent five years ago the school district had 100 percent certified teachers.

The superintendent added that the hiring of about 80 uncertified teachers is the most in his tenure, and he called the hiring of more and more uncertified teachers a snowball effect over the course of the last three or four years due to the lack of finances.

“It is a cause for concern, and it has not caught us by surprise,” Martin said. “Teachers are a hot commodity right now. If you walk out the school of journalism and you’re looking for a job and you have two job offers and one paid x and one paid plus-x, where you going? It’s a no brainer, and the same is true for teachers.”

The average teacher salary in Terrebonne Parish is about $46,000 – ranking Terrebonne 49th among Louisiana’s 70 school districts. Terrebonne’s average beginning teacher salary is about $38,000. Both lag behind the school district’s nearby counterparts.

“[Certified teachers] can go to Lafourche, they can go to St. Mary or they can go to Terrebonne. Where you gonna go? If you’re looking to start your career professional career, we’re all gonna go where the compensation is the most beneficial to us,” Martin said.

Terrebonne Parish ranks third to last among Louisiana’s school districts in average pupil expenditure.

“In a community as blessed and as economically vibrant as ours, it is essential that there be qualified teachers in every classroom,” said Jennifer Armand, chairwomen of the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce’s Blue Ribbon Task Force put in place to analyze the needs of local public schools. “The taskforce recommended that in order to make that happen and grow our students’ academic achievement increased taxpayer support is needed to bring our teacher pay to a more competitive level,”

On Dec. 6, The people of Terrebonne Parish will have the chance to vote for or against a measure that would not only put more money in the pockets of the parish’s public school teachers, but it would also allow the school district to be more competitive in the marketplace for certified teachers.

The proposed half-cent sales tax would bring in an estimated $13 million and raise teacher salaries by about $4,000 in the first year, according to officials.

“I hope voters agree that this is a very worthwhile use of taxpayer money,” said Armand. “Our teachers need this, and [passing the tax] is one of our most critical tools to make sure that we maintain and attract more qualified teachers.”