MN Supreme Court tosses lawsuit against controversial Minneapolis Public Schools policy

Loading Video…

This browser does not support the Video element.

Lawsuit dismissed against Mpls Public Schools policy

The Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit against a Minneapolis Public School policy that has caused controversy. The policy requires the school district to skip minority teachers during layoffs.

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday tossed a lawsuit against a controversial Minneapolis Public Schools policy that requires the district to skip over minority teachers when deciding whom to layoff.

MN Supreme Court: Minneapolis taxpayer has no right to sue school district over policy

The decision:

The court’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit ends a more than two-year legal battle that sought to stop Minneapolis Public Schools from implementing a policy designed to shield minority teachers from layoffs. 

After 2022 Minneapolis teachers’ strike, controversial contract provision led to lawsuit

The backstory:

The nearly three-week Minneapolis teachers’ strike in March 2022 ended with a contract that included a provision that ignited partisan debate and caught national attention. The provision, which requires the district to skip over minority teachers in the event of layoffs, was ultimately challenged in a lawsuit filed that August.

Judicial Watch, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative legal group, filed the suit on behalf of Deborah Clapp, a Minneapolis homeowner who argued that her tax dollars should not be used to implement the policy.

The suit claimed that the policy violated the Minnesota Constitution’s equal protection guarantee by "laying off, reassigning, reinstating and retaining teachers on the basis of their race and ethnicity."

After defeat at state level, critics of policy look to incoming Trump administration

What they're saying:

In a statement on Wednesday, Judicial Watch said it plans to ask the incoming Trump administration to investigate "a blatant civil rights violation."

Even though the lawsuit was dismissed, a conservative legal expert who considered suing the district before Judicial Watch took action, said laid-off teachers would still have options.

"A teacher who is laid off because of the color of his or her skin could bring a claim like that…." said James Dickey, a senior attorney at Upper Midwest Law Center. "And it certainly is possible if the federal government believes that civil rights violations are taking place, they could take action."

Minneapolis Public SchoolsEducationMinneapolis