DOJ: Minneapolis Schools Used Illegal Race-Based Layoff Rules

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Three years after Minneapolis Public Schools drew national attention for contract language that shielded certain teachers from layoffs, the U.S. Department of Justice is now suing the district, claiming the policy is illegal under federal civil rights law.

The 20-page lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court, alleges that MPS implemented contract provisions that "classify, limit, or discriminate" against teachers based on race, color, national origin, or sex.

The department argues the district’s collective bargaining agreement with the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers requires MPS to treat "underrepresented" teachers differently when deciding whom to excess, reassign, lay off, or reinstate.

The Justice Department says these rules unlawfully replace seniority-based systems with race-conscious preferences.

The contract requires Minneapolis Public Schools to skip "excessing" an "underrepresented" teacher and instead move a more senior teacher who is not underrepresented.

It also requires the district to rehire underrepresented teachers first, even before more senior staff, and allows underrepresented teachers to avoid layoffs entirely, no matter how long they have worked for the district

Federal attorneys wrote that these policies are "plainly discriminatory," arguing the district offered no factual or analytical basis for its claim that the rules are needed to remedy past discrimination.

In 2022, when the policy was adopted, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers President Greta Callahan defended it, saying, "This language is one tiny, minuscule way to retain educators of color and other underrepresented groups IF THEY choose to destabilize our schools by slashing building budgets and cutting the humans who have relationships with our students."

Callahan also said that "layoffs should not happen in the first place."

‘Black Men Teach’ Provision

The DOJ is also challenging a separate memorandum of agreement with Black Men Teach, a third-party organization that works to recruit and retain Black male educators.

Under that agreement, the district only lets Black male teachers join the program, gives them extra paid training days, and protects them from the usual excessing and layoff rules.

Female educators and non-Black educators are not eligible for the same benefits, the lawsuit says.

In the contract, MPS states that the policy is intended “to remedy the continuing effects of past discrimination” and increase the number of educators of color.

DOJ, however, says the district offered "no evidence" to support the assertion of past discriminatory impacts.

The Justice Department is asking a judge to declare the contract language unlawful, block the district from enforcing it, and prevent similar rules from being included in future contracts.