Minneapolis teacher contract race language ignites firestorm

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When Minneapolis teachers settled a 14-day strike earlier this year (2022), they celebrated a groundbreaking provision in their new contract that was meant to shield teachers of color from traditional seniority-based layoffs. They said it was crucial in a district where more than 60% of students are from racial minorities to have teachers that look like them. Months later, that language has ignited a firestorm, with denunciations of the policy as racist and unconstitutional discrimination against white people. One legal group is seeking to recruit teachers willing to sue to void the language. But the teachers union paints the dispute as a ginned-up controversy when there’s no imminent danger of anyone losing their job.