Judicial Watch Urges Federal Probe of Minneapolis Schools’ Union Contract Over Constitutional Concerns

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it wrote letters to the Offices of Civil Rights in the Departments of Education and Labor requesting they investigate the collective bargaining agreement between the Minneapolis Public Schools and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers. The letters point out that the contract violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Judicial Watch filed an August 2022 lawsuit on behalf of a Minneapolis taxpayer over a teachers’ contract that provided discriminatory job protections to certain racial minorities. The lawsuit was filed against the superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools, the Minneapolis Public Schools, and the Minneapolis Board of Education for violating the Equal Protection Guarantee of the Minnesota Constitution. 

In January 2025, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued an opinion, rejecting Judicial Watch’s lawsuit without addressing the constitutionality of the contract.

In its letters to the Civil Rights Divisions of the Departments of Education and Labor, Judicial Watch urges the agencies to “open a formal investigation” of Minneapolis public schools for civil rights violations:

Judicial Watch requests the Office for Civil Rights investigate Article 15 of the collective bargaining agreement between the Minneapolis Public Schools, Special District No. 1 (“MPS”) and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59. The contract violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Article 15 exempts teachers of color from MPS’s seniority-based layoffs and reassignments, which means, when layoffs or reassignments occur, the next senior teacher who is not “of color” would be laid off or reassigned. The contract also mandates that MPS reinstate teachers of color over more senior teachers who are not “of color.” Prior to the contract, teachers were laid off or reassigned in order of seniority, with the least senior teachers laid off or reassigned first, without regard to race or ethnicity. Similarly, teachers were reinstated in order of seniority, with the more senior teachers reinstated first, without regard to race or ethnicity. Article 15 has been effective as of July 1, 2021, and continues to be in effect today. In addition, MPS is currently negotiating with the teachers’ union concerning a new contract. There is no indication that this provision will not be included in the new contract. 

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MPS’s Article 15 is repugnant to the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the 14th Amendment. It is not only a discriminatory contract that threatens teachers’ jobs, but a blatant civil rights violation and cannot stand.

The letters conclude: “Should any portion of this complaint fall outside the OCR’s [Office of Civil Rights] subject matter jurisdiction, we request that you refer that portion to the Attorney General for further action.”

“Minneapolis Public Schools clearly discriminate against teachers based on their race, and the school district is using taxpayer dollars to do so,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Let’s hope that the Departments of Education and Labor do a better job of upholding civil rights law than the Minnesota Supreme Court.”

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