Report exposes DEI language in Twin Cities teachers union contracts

Twin Cities teachers union contracts have several diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) provisions, a new investigation found.

The provisions in the Minneapolis and St. Paul teachers union contracts include race-based exemptions from layoffs, as well as special councils and committees geared towards non-white teachers, according to the report.

The watchdog group Defending Education dug into public school districts across the nation, uncovering DEI agreements that likely would not align with President Donald Trump’s executive orders regarding educational institutions and racially-discriminatory policies.

The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) has multiple benefits for “underrepresented” teachers, the report explains. This includes the Black Men Teach (BMT) program that recruits black male educators in order to “remedy past, present, and continuing effects of discrimination in MPS hiring practices.”

The contract also includes an Anti-Bias Anti-Racist Staff Development and Advisory Council, which focuses on “reducing inequitable practices and behaviors in our learning places and spaces as well as supporting educators, specifically educators of color, in navigating and disrupting our District as a predominantly white institution.”

The contract also outlines how some teachers may be exempt from layoffs. The contract says these exemptions may apply to “teachers who are members of populations underrepresented among licensed teachers,” and “alumni of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Tribal Colleges and Universities and/or Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) programs.”

The Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit earlier this year which sought to challenge language in the contract that protects teachers from layoffs if they are members of an “underrepresented” population.

The contract also says that the district will “provide additional supports for MPS educators who are members of populations underrepresented among licensed teachers in the district” and that “all non-tenured educators who are members of populations underrepresented among licensed teachers in the district will have access to wrap-around support.”

The St. Paul educators agreement includes an article about “Recruitment and Retention of Educators of Color.”

“The District will continue current practices in recruitment and retention of educators of color. In addition, the District will allocate $20,000 per contract year for the purpose of providing support and development of members of color in School and Community Service Professional, Education Assistants and Teacher Affinity Groups,” the contract says.

Defending Education Researcher Rhyen Staley told National Review that it’s “no surprise that teachers unions are embedding diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice language into bargaining agreements.”

“What’s deeply concerning is how many school districts have willingly signed off on these DEI-based programs — many of which are highly immoral and possibly illegal,” Staley added.

The U.S. Department of Education issued a warning to school districts in February of this year, directing them to halt DEI programs, including in the hiring and training of staff, or risk losing federal funding.

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