Minneapolis School District Reaffirms Its Decision To Lay Off White Instructors Before Teachers Of Color

A Minneapolis school district isn’t walking back its decision to lay off white instructors over teachers of color following a teachers’ union agreement.

Back in spring 2022, a teachers’ union for Minneapolis Public Schools signed off on a deal with the district, which guarantees that in the event that there are layoffs, white instructors would be let go before underrepresented instructors as part of a mission to protect teachers of color from being removed from the already predominantly white staff.

“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,” reads the contract.

The decision came after a two-week strike in which teachers were demanding better pay, more stable schooling and more support for teachers’ and students’ mental health. While some naysayers called the strike and demand to keep teachers of color in employment over white teachers “illegal and “unconstitutional,” the district backed up its decision to agree to the terms.

“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 an email, The New York Post reports.

According to The Minneapolis Star tribune, back in June, it was reported that16% of the district’s tenured teachers and 27% of its probationary teachers were people of color.