The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) on Tuesday alleging the district uses explicit racial preferences in its hiring practices.
MPS has a collective bargaining agreement with a teachers’ union that prioritizes “underrepresented” teachers and awards additional benefits to members of an outside organization, “Black Men Teach,” that are not available to nonwhite or female teachers, the DOJ claimed in an announcement on Wednesday.
“Discrimination is unacceptable in all forms, especially when it comes to hiring decisions,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the announcement. “Our public education system in Minnesota and across the country must be a bastion of merit and equal opportunity — not DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion].”
The district also has stated an intention to increase its percentage of “BIPOC” staff, a term used to refer to black, indigenous and people of color, “to at least 40% by 2026,” according to the DOJ. Layoffs and involuntary reassignment decisions are also made with consideration of a teacher’s race.
The DOJ is asking the court to declare MPS’s hiring practices violate the Civil Rights Act and issue a permanent injunction.
“This preferential treatment is plainly discriminatory and unlawful,” the complaint reads. “While Defendants claim that these provisions are to stop discrimination, they require Defendants to blatantly discriminate against teachers based on their race, color, sex, and national origin.”
MPS did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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