The Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit on Wednesday which sought to challenge a policy that shields Minneapolis teachers from adverse employment actions if those teachers are members of an “underrepresented” population in the district.
Back in 2022, the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) and Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) agreed to a new employment contract for teachers in the school district. A part of that collective bargaining agreement was a new set of policies which give MPS teachers preferential treatment if they are members of an “underrepresented” population.
Those policies, which are included in the current teacher contract, allow “underrepresented” teachers to avoid involuntary reassignment, be the first to receive job reinstatement after layoffs occur, and be shielded from layoffs in certain situations.
According to the agreement, those policies exist “to remedy the continuing effects of past discrimination by the District. Past discrimination by the District disproportionately impacted the hiring of underrepresented teachers in the District, as compared to the relevant labor market and the community, and resulted in a lack of diversity of teachers.”
Deborah Clapp, a Minneapolis resident, filed a lawsuit against MPS in 2022 that challenged the constitutionality of the collective bargaining agreement. In her lawsuit, Clapp said the collective bargaining agreement violates the Minnesota Constitution because it provides preferences, protections, and privileges for certain teachers based on race and ethnicity.
However, Clapp’s lawsuit was dismissed in district court after a judge ruled that Clapp, who is not a teacher, lacked standing to bring the lawsuit. Clapp brought her lawsuit on the grounds that she pays local property taxes which fund MPS, but the court said the Minneapolis woman “failed to sufficiently allege taxpayer standing.”
The case was then appealed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals which reversed the district court’s ruling and said Clapp “pleaded an adequate basis for taxpayer standing.”
However, the Minnesota Supreme Court took up the case and reversed the Court of Appeals’ decision last week. In its ruling, the Supreme Court referenced another case in which it recently decided that standing for taxpayers exists “only when the central dispute involves alleged unlawful disbursements of public funds.”
As such, the Supreme Court ruled that Clapp lacked standing and dismissed the case. Despite this, none of the courts which heard the case ever tested the actual merits of the case. All of the proceedings only examined whether Clapp had standing to bring the case.
Clapp was represented in the case by lawyers with Judicial Watch, a conservative organization based in Washington, D.C.
“Minneapolis Public Schools is unabashedly discriminating against teachers based on their race, and the school district is using taxpayer dollars to do so,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The Minnesota Supreme Court’s disgraceful decision not only threatens teachers’ jobs but also prevents Minnesota taxpayers (present and future) from holding their government to account. This woke, racially discriminatory contract cannot stand.”
Judicial Watch also noted that it will ask the incoming Trump administration to investigate “this blatant civil rights violation.”
While the case has concluded, Judicial Watch informed Alpha News that it will continue to monitor the situation. The organization further stated that it hopes any teacher that is discriminated against by way of this policy will reach out to Judicial Watch.
Meanwhile, MPS told Alpha News that it is “pleased with the Court’s decision in this matter and we thank the partners who joined us in the appeal.”
Alpha News asked MPS about the exact definition of “underrepresented population,” but the district did not provide an answer.
This story has been updated to more accurately reflect the contents of the collective bargaining agreement.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
