BATON ROUGE - Louisiana lawmakers advanced a state budget proposal Tuesday that would cut public school teacher pay and reduce the number of early childhood education seats available next school year in favor of other education initiatives.

The House Appropriations Committee put forward a spending plan that reduces a $2,000 pay stipend teachers received this school year to just $1,300 next year, saving the state $71 million.

It cut $24.3 million out of early childhood education, resulting in a loss of almost 2,000 seats.

State Representative Denise Marcelle says making these cuts will cause harmful ripple effects for the upcoming generation.

"We already have the evidence that when children are exposed to early childhood, they're less likely to fall into crime, they're more likely to finish their education," Marcelle said. "When we know that, we have to be proactive and make sure the funding is there for the children."

The House leadership chose to prioritize other education programs in their spending plan instead of keeping teacher pay level.

Louisiana's teachers unions have opposed this strategy, in part because the raises teachers receive through differential compensation aren't permanent and can be taken away from year to year.

"We are continuing work along with our caucus and some members of the appropriation team in order to get that funding restored to at least back to what it was."

Lawmakers are likely to make several more changes to the state spending plan. The full Louisiana House and Louisiana Senate must also approve the budget before it can become law.

The full House is expected to debate and vote on the spending proposal Thursday.