Posts tagged Minneapolis Federation of Teachers
Judicial Watch Urges Federal Probe of Minneapolis Schools’ Union Contract Over Constitutional Concerns
September 8, 2025 // 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.
Judicial Watch Urges Federal Probe of Minneapolis Schools’ Union Contract Over Constitutional Concerns
September 5, 2025 // 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.
Commentary: The Teachers’ Unions Are More Political than Ever
April 18, 2024 // Americans for Fair Treatment, a national nonprofit organization that educates public employees about their rights in a unionized workplace, recently released a report detailing the National Education Association’s (NEA) financial filings from Sept. 1, 2022, through Aug. 31, 2023. The NEA declared that its political spending totaled $50.1 million during the fiscal year, though the true number is much higher. During the most recent reporting period, the union disclosed that it spent “$126.3 million on ‘contributions, gifts, and grants,’ which is where most unions detail their charitable giving.” However, a closer look at the union’s “contributions, gifts, and grants” shows that the NEA is directing more money towards political causes than it reports.
Oregon Education Association Just the Latest Teachers’ Union to Impose Racially Discriminatory Policies
June 15, 2023 // On April 30, OEA’s board of directors discussed a so-called “progressive dues structure for BIPOC (black, indigenous and people of color) members,” according to meeting minutes. This scheme would include a “significant discount for educators until the racial breakdown of our membership aligns with the racial breakdown of our student population.”
Minneapolis Teachers Union Strike Ends
March 30, 2022 // The new contract also includes language protecting educators of color from seniority driven layoffs (“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 contract reads), and will add mentors to support educators of color in the district.
Students hold sit-in at district office amid Mpls. teachers strike; food service workers union announces tentative agreement
March 18, 2022 // "My hope is that we will truly dig into the equity part of it and make sure that our Black and brown educators are taken care of," El-Amin said. "There are lot of inequities we need to deal with other than the dollars on the table. Want to make sure families that look like me are being heard."
Special Legal Notice for Minneapolis and St. Paul Public School Educators
March 8, 2022 // Media reports indicate that the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT), St. Paul Federation of Educators (SPFE), and other associated unions have threatened to order a strike beginning Tuesday, March 8 if Minneapolis and St. Paul public school officials do not make various concessions demanded by union officials during bargaining talks.
Group calls on Minneapolis school district, union to protect teachers of color before strike
February 22, 2022 // A group is asking MPS and MFT Local 59 to sign an agreement protecting teachers of color from seniority-based layoffs.
Teacher unions in both Minneapolis and St. Paul holding strike votes
February 20, 2022 // The vote, being held late Thursday evening, does not mean the union will definitely go on strike. Even if members approve a strike during the Feb. 17 vote, SPFE would still need to decide that a strike was necessary, set a date, and notify the district.
Minneapolis Public Schools teachers begin casting votes on whether to strike
February 16, 2022 // Starting on Monday and running through Thursday, Feb. 17, Minneapolis Public Schools teachers will have the opportunity to cast a ballot and decide if they support or oppose a teachers strike.