Louisiana DOE list of ways to help teachers includes removing distracting students, limiting cell phones

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Gov. Jeff Landry and state Superintendent Cade Brumley unveiled a set of recommendations they hope will help teachers have more success with kids in the classroom.

The program was crafted by a group of teachers with Brumley and is dubbed Let Teachers Teach. A number of objectives look to give teachers more time to prepare for classroom instruction and to curb bad behavior by students.

Among the 18 recommendations are several methods proposed to remove students who are repeated disruptions. Middle school and high school students who are deemed ungovernable will be taken to different locations to learn so that the rest of the class can get back on track.

There is also a recommendation to get the juvenile detention facilities and district attorneys involved in finding solutions to students regularly being absent.

Another suggestion is to limit cell phone use during instruction time.

“These proposals today are a call to action, a call to elevate the teaching profession. A call that keeps students first and a call that requires school leaders, system leaders and state-level leaders to act,” Brumley said.

Read the full list of recommendations here.

A number of bills are working through the legislature that seek to stifle classroom discussion on subjects such as gender identity and oppression. One recommendation is to end teachers reading from curriculum scripts. Despite testimony from lawmakers saying teachers need to stick to the curriculum, Landry emphasizes that this won’t change that.

“Sticking to core curriculum is not sticking to a script. Those are two very distinct things. A curriculum says these are the subject matters, these are the ideas. And we hope that teachers take that curriculum, put that into their creative teaching talent, and then bring that to bear on the children,” Landry said.

Brumley said teachers often said their planning periods were not enough time to complete their work, and they often had to use their personal time to catch up. A bill is being voted on that would create supplemental pay for teachers who work extra hours.

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