Lawsuit against policy favoring ‘underrepresented’ teachers dismissed by Minnesota Supreme Court

Judicial Watch, which represented the plaintiff in the case, said it will ask the incoming Trump administration to investigate "this blatant civil rights violation."

underrepresented
The Minneapolis Public Schools headquarters building. (Minneapolis Public Schools/Facebook)

The Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit on Wednesday which sought to challenge a policy that shields Minneapolis teachers from staff layoffs 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 policy which exempted MPS teachers from the normal layoff procedures if they are members of an “underrepresented” population.

Prior to this policy, teacher layoffs were conducted using a first-in, first-out policy. Essentially, the teachers with the least amount of seniority are let go first. However, an addition to Article 15 of the collective bargaining agreement added “Teachers who are members of populations underrepresented among licensed teachers in the District” to the list of exemptions.

The policy, which was updated in 2024 and included in the current teacher contract, would allow a black teacher with less seniority to keep their job while a white teacher with more seniority is let go.

According to the current teacher contract, the policy exists “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 resident of Minneapolis, filed a lawsuit against MPS in 2022 which sought to get the policy ruled unconstitutional. In her lawsuit, Clapp said the policy in question 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. In short, this means no court has ruled on the constitutionality of the policy in question.

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” and inquired whether any teachers in the district have been laid off by way of the policy in question. However, the district did not answer either question.

 

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.