Teachers Union President Defends School District That Will Lay Off White Teachers First

Teachers Union President Defends School District That Will Lay Off White Teachers First

Reagan Reese on August 23, 2022

American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Randi Weingarten defended a contract between Minneapolis Public Schools and the union which will fire white teachers over minority teachers, according to a Monday tweet.

The March contract between Minneapolis Public Schools and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) includes a deal that fires teachers who are not a part of underrepresented populations first, instead of basing termination on seniority. Weingarten tweeted an article by Associated Press with a quote from Greta Callahan, the president of the teachers chapter of Minneapolis Federation of Teachers.

“This,” Weingarten tweeted, followed by a quote from Callahan.

“The same people who want to take down teachers unions and blame seniority are now defending it for white people. This is all made up by the right wing now,” Callahan said.

This. “The same people who want to take down teachers unions and blame seniority are now defending it for white people. This is all made up by the right wing now.” – @greta_callahan @MFT59 https://t.co/y11edqHh71

— Randi Weingarten ☮️🇺🇦🇺🇸 (@rweingarten) August 22, 2022

Callahan said that the new contract does not threaten any job because there are vacancies in the school district, according to the AP. She also added that the contract will help account for the minority teachers who have quit in the past few years.

The contract that ended a 14-day union strike keeps minority teachers “exempted from district-wide layoff[s] outside seniority order.” The new policy is intended to reverse “past discrimination” due to “disproportionate hiring.”

Weingarten, AFT, MFT and Minneapolis Public Schools did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.