From MPR News:
A federal judge dismissed a Department of Justice lawsuit against Minneapolis Public Schools’ policy aimed at retaining teachers of color on procedural grounds Monday.
The decision is the latest twist in a case that began as part of a deal to end a 2022 teachers’ strike and was taken up in court by conservative activists, leading to a four-year legal fight.
The provision in the contract to exempt “underrepresented” teachers from seniority-based layoffs attracted attention from national conservative media and legal groups. In August 2022, a Minneapolis taxpayer sued over the policy, claiming her tax dollars were being used for illegal discrimination against white teachers. The taxpayer, Deborah Clapp, was represented by the right-wing organization Judicial Watch and Minneapolis lawyer Daniel Rosen, who is now the U.S. Attorney for Minnesota. (Rosen did not represent the Department of Justice in the current federal case.)
Ultimately, Clapp’s lawsuit made its way to the Minnesota Supreme Court. In January 2025, days before Donald Trump was sworn in for his second term as president, the Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed Clapp’s lawsuit, saying she lacked standing. Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, said he’d ask Trump to investigate the case as a “blatant civil rights violation.”
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