Minneapolis School District Under Fire After Targeting White Teachers For Layoffs First, Adopting “Illegal and Racist” Policy

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – A new agreement reached between the Minneapolis, Minnesota Federation of Teachers union and the school district would see White teachers let go first in the event of layoffs – even those with more seniority – before teachers of color, a development that has been branded by many as being not only illegal, but racist as well.

The agreement was intended to provide protections for “underrepresented populations” amongst the school district’s mostly-White teaching staff, stating that teachers of color “may be exempted from district-wide layoff[s] outside seniority order.”

“Starting with the Spring 2023 Budget Tie-Out Cycle, if excessing [reducing] a teacher who is a member of a population underrepresented among licensed teachers in the site, the District shall excess the next least senior teacher, who is not a member of an underrepresented population,” the agreement says.

Currently, reports indicate that just 16 percent of tenured teachers in the district are individuals of color, along with 27 percent of probationary teachers. The student body, in contrast, is made up of approximately 60 percent of non-White children and teens.

The reasoning for targeting White teachers for layoffs first, according to the agreement, is to make up for “discrimination” that has taken place in the past which has contributed to “a lack of diversity of teachers.”

While it is being reported that the deal was “mutually agreed” upon by both the teacher’s union and the school district, many law experts are branding the agreement as being “unconstitutional,” “racist,” and even outright “illegal,” and it is not expected to be able to stand up against court challenges, according to Fox News contributor Leo Terrell.

“The law is unconstitutional. It’s discriminatory. It’s affirmative action, which is illegal and it’s racist,” he said. “Besides being a schoolteacher, I was a civil rights attorney. My whole goal as a civil rights attorney is to eliminate the game of playing the race card. And what you have here is people out in the open playing the race card. And I’d like to see some data that says a kid learns better if they have a teacher that looks like them. They need experienced and qualified teachers. Period.”