Minneapolis teachers union contract calls for layoffs of white teachers first
Teachers are normally laid off or excessed based on seniority alone, but the new
agreement adds a racial component as well.
By
Evan Stambaugh
-
August 14, 2022
A Minneapolis teachers union contract stipulates that white teachers will be
laid off or reassigned before “educators of color” in the event Minneapolis
Public Schools (MPS) needs to reduce staff.
After the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) and MPS struck a deal
on March 25 to end a 14-day teacher strike, the two sides drew up and ratified a
new collective bargaining agreement complete with various proposals.
One of the proposals dealt with “educators of color protections.” The agreement
states that if a non-white teacher is subject to excess, MPS must excess a white
teacher with the “next least” seniority.
“Starting with the Spring 2023 Budget Tie-Out Cycle, if excessing a teacher who
is a member of a population underrepresented among licensed teachers in the
site, the District shall excess the next least senior teacher, who is not a
member of an underrepresented population,” the agreement reads.
According to the United Federation of Teachers ,
“excessing” means “reducing staff in a particular school when there is a
reduction in the number of available positions in a title or license area in
that school.”
The agreement adds that non-white teachers, as well as those working in various
programs, “may be exempted from district-wide layoff[s] outside seniority
order.” The agreement also prioritizes the reinstatement of teachers from
“under represented populations” over white teachers.
Continue Reading at :
<https://alphanews.org/minneapolis-teachers-union-contract-calls-for-layoffs-of-white-teachers-first/>
