The Department of Justice is suing Minneapolis Public Schools for giving special treatment to minority teachers.
The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division sued the school system Wednesday over a collective bargaining agreement with the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59, which intends to remedy alleged past discrimination by giving favorable treatment in hiring and protecting teachers of color from being reassigned or laid off on the basis of their race.
The school district has set percentage quotas for hiring and retention of teachers. The defendants’ plan seeks to increase their percentage of black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) staff from 37.6 percent in 2023 up to 40 percent by 2026; furthermore, the defendants have set a goal of hiring a majority—54.3 percent of new hires—from minority racial groups.
The complaint alleges that the Council follows through on its stated mission and goals by employment policies that give preferential treatment to teachers who are members of “underrepresented groups,” granting them privileges and protecting them from adverse employment actions on the basis of their minority status.
This special treatment exists “to remedy the continuing effects of past discrimination by the District . . . [that] disproportionately impacted the hiring of underrepresented teachers in the District, as compared to the relevant labor market and the community, and resulted in a lack of diversity of teachers.” These policies—which are not based on any objective measure—will be scrapped once the diversity of the district reaches an acceptable level.
Specifically, in the process of excessing teachers—that is, reassigning, laying off, or reinstating teachers based on financial or staff concerns—teachers are typically reassigned or terminated based on seniority. But the collective bargaining agreement obligates the district to exempt teachers from “underrepresented groups” and instead excess a junior, white teacher instead. These exemptions apply to all of the above scenarios. They also apply to teachers who are not members of the bargaining group, as well as teachers who are working outside of their license.
Furthermore, the district has a memorandum of understanding with a fellowship organization called “Black Men Teach,” which is committed to advancing black male teachers. Members of this fellowship are interviewed and hired on a separate track from non-black and female applicants; they also receive the same favorable treatment in excessing. They also receive five days of covered, paid time off to participate in professional development events.
The complaint alleges that all of the aforementioned policies are violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The DOJ seeks a declaratory judgment affirming its allegations of racial discrimination; a permanent injunction barring the district, its employees, and those acting on its behalf from furthering those policies or entering into a similar agreement; and associated relief.
