From Hans Bader (Liberty Unyielding):
The Minneapolis Public Schools have adopted a race-based layoff provision that violates the Constitution and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. "A Minneapolis teachers union contract stipulates that white teachers will be laid off or reassigned before "educators of color" in the event Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) needs to reduce staff," reports Alpha News:
After the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) and MPS struck a deal on March 25 to end a 14-day teacher strike, the two sides drew up and ratified a new collective bargaining agreement complete with various proposals.
One of the proposals dealt with "educators of color protections." The agreement states that if a non-white teacher is subject to excess, MPS must excess a white teacher with the "next least" seniority.
"Starting with the Spring 2023 Budget Tie-Out Cycle, if excessing 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 reads.
This violates a well-known Supreme Court decision overturning the race-based layoff of a white teacher, and contradicts a well-known federal appeals court decision, which ruled that race-based layoffs of white teachers violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
