(Headline USA) The Minneapolis public school district is defending its agreement with a local teachers union this week that requires schools to fire white teachers ahead of their minority colleagues, arguing it’s a necessary measure to remedy “the effects of past discrimination.”
“To remedy the continuing effects of past discrimination, Minneapolis Public Schools and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) mutually agreed to contract language that aims to support the recruitment and retention of teachers from underrepresented groups as compared to the labor market and to the community served by the school district,” the district said in a statement, according to the Washington Times.
Under the agreement, minority instructors “may be exempted from district-wide layoff[s] outside seniority order.” The purpose of this policy is to protect “underrepresented populations” and prevent the district’s predominantly white staff from becoming more homogenous, the district said.
The language of the contract reportedly states: “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.”
Critics have pointed out the agreement is illegal, since it blatantly discriminates against white teachers.
“The Minneapolis teachers Union has taken a racist approach and agreed to protect your job based on your skin color, over your job performance or seniority. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but racist employment contracts have no place in our society,” Minnesota state Rep. Jeremy Munson said in a statement.
Others have pointed out it likely violates the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
