White teachers in the Minneapolis Public School District will be fired before minority teachers, according to the stipulations of a recently negotiated union agreement. Alpha News reported that a deal between the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and Minneapolis Public Schools on March 25 includes a provision allowing minority teachers to be “exempted from district-wide layoff[s] outside seniority order.”

Conversely, the agreement dictates that if a minority teacher would otherwise be subject to layoffs, “the District shall excess the next least senior teacher, who is not a member of an underrepresented population.” Previously, the seniority of teachers in the district was the only factor that determined whether or not they would be laid off. The reinstatement of minority teachers will also be given a greater priority than the reinstatement of white teachers.

The justification for these measures is the alleged consequences of past racial discrimination within Minneapolis Public Schools.

The new policies, which are to be implemented in spring 2023, violate Minnesota statutes. Section 363A.02 of the 2021 Minnesota Statutes declares, “It is the public policy of this state to secure for persons in this state, freedom from discrimination,” including on the basis of race and color. According to James Dickey, the senior trial counsel of the Upper Midwest Law Center, the agreement also violates the United States Constitution since it “openly discriminates against white teachers based only on the color of their skin, and not their seniority or merit.”

The Upper Midwest Law Center is preparing to take action against the agreement and is requesting that any teachers opposed to the measures reach out to them.