NEW ORLEANS – On Friday, Aug. 8, Benjamin Franklin High School and the United Teachers of Franklin, a chapter of the United Teachers of New Orleans, finalized their fourth collective bargaining agreement after 15 bargaining sessions held between November 2024 and July 2025. The new contract, effective through April 15, 2029, expands parental leave, addresses health and safety concerns, limits workloads for student support services, clarifies progressive discipline and evaluation processes, and increases compensation.
“Franklin continues to set the standard for public education in Louisiana,” said CEO Alex Jarrell. “We’re proud of this new agreement, which reflects our shared commitment to excellence. This contract helps ensure our faculty have the support and conditions they need to deliver the highest-quality education to our students.”
Dr. Alexis Parent-Ferrouillet, the president of Benjamin Franklin’s governing board, Advocates for Academic Excellence in Education, agreed. “This new CBA represents the strength of our community and our shared belief in what Franklin can be,” she said. “With this foundational agreement, our school will continue to flourish, providing a place where both teachers and students can thrive.”
Negotiators emphasized transparency and member participation throughout the process. “United Teachers of Franklin made a commitment to be transparent and inclusive during negotiations: no closed meetings; all members were invited to attend any meeting and any bargaining session,” said Jennifer Mangum, math teacher and chair of United Teachers of Franklin. “We sent unit-wide updates after every session and trusted the members of the bargaining committee to have any conversation they wished with members. Through this intentional process of inclusion we saw a dramatic increase in member engagement: 85% of members were represented in our contract surveys and 60% of members attended a bargaining session.”
For Dr. Archana Sharma, psychology teacher and negotiation committee member, the work was personal. “My work on the negotiation committee involved writing language for our new family leave benefits,” she said. “We won 12 weeks of paid parental leave in addition to 6 weeks short term disability for birthing parents. Working on this language felt like a commitment to the city’s future.”
Health insurance was also a top priority for the union. “We are proud to present our members with two years of fully funded insurance premiums,” said Rebecca Cavalier, English teacher and vice chair of United Teachers of Franklin. “By making a commitment to our health, the school is allowing teachers to focus on what they do best: uplifting students.”
With the agreement now in place, school leaders and union representatives will turn their attention to implementation. Both sides expressed confidence that the new provisions will strengthen faculty retention, enhance student support, and ensure Franklin remains one of Louisiana’s top-performing public schools in the years ahead.
About Benjamin Franklin High School
Benjamin Franklin High School, New Orleans’ most outstanding public charter school, has been preparing students for success through academic achievement since its founding in 1957. Consistently ranked as a “top public high school in the nation” by U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, and Business Week, Ben Franklin is repeatedly named a National Blue Ribbon School, most recently in 2021, and produces Presidential and National Merit Scholars each year. The exceptional students, faculty, and staff at Ben Franklin are the best and the brightest in New Orleans. For more information, please visit bfhsla.org.
About the United Teachers of New Orleans
The United Teachers of New Orleans, AFT Local 527, is a union of professionals, organized to collectively and democratically increase equity in public education for students, parents, teachers, and communities in order to protect dignity and civil rights for all. Teachers and school personnel have found their voice and power for advocacy through Local 527 since its founding in 1937. For more information, please visit utno.org
The collective bargaining agreement can be accessed here.
