# Minneapolis Public Schools *Public school district in Minneapolis, Minnesota; defendant in a 2025 federal Title VII complaint over teacher employment terms, which the project's matrix records as dismissed.* Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), formally Special School District Number 1, operates public schools from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 in [[Minneapolis]], [[Minnesota]]. Its school board acts under authority granted by the [[Minnesota Legislature]]. The board sets policy, chooses the superintendent, and oversees the budget, curriculum, personnel and facilities.[^1] On December 9, 2025, the [[United States Department of Justice]] sued the district under [[Title VII]] of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. The suit challenges three provisions of the district's contract with the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers: the Article 15 layoff protections, the Black Men Teach memorandum of agreement, and BIPOC salary enhancements.[^2] The case is *United States v. Minneapolis Public Schools*, No. 0:25-cv-04571, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.[^3][^4] The project's dossier also gives the caption as *United States v. Board of Directors of Special School District No. 1*.[^5] The complaint's contents are allegations, not adjudicated facts.[^3] The project's Wright County claims matrix (validated, September 2, 2026) records the case as dismissed. The Ramsey County matrix of the same date lists the same docket only as a complaint.[^5][^6] The pack does not contain the dismissal order, its date or its grounds, and this article does not characterize them.[^5] The board describes itself as "a policy-making body responsible for selecting the superintendent and overseeing the district's budget, curriculum, personnel and facilities."[^7] The personnel terms the district agreed to in settling the 2022 teachers' strike are the terms the federal complaint later put at issue.[^8][^2] ## Who - The Minneapolis Board of Education governs the district. Its officers listed in the cached Wikipedia revision are Chair Collin Beachy and Vice-Chair Kim Ellison, both members at-large. The board holds its powers from the State of Minnesota and its Legislature.[^7] - The defendant in No. 0:25-cv-04571 is the district, captioned in the dossier as the Board of Directors of Special School District No. 1.[^3][^5] - The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers was the union party to the 2022 settlement that produced the three challenged provisions.[^8] In 2019 the same union had proposed diversity layoff protections, and the district rejected them.[^9] ## What - **The challenged provisions.** The 2022 strike settlement included: - Article 15 layoff protections keyed to race. - A Black Men Teach memorandum of agreement providing preferential hiring and exemptions from excessing. - A 2% BIPOC salary enhancement.[^8] - **The complaint.** The Department of Justice alleges that these provisions violate Title VII.[^2][^3] The record does not contain a ruling on the merits.[^5] - **The legal backdrop.** In *[[Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services]]*, 605 U.S. 303 (2025), the Supreme Court held that Title VII's disparate-treatment provision "draws no distinctions between majority-group plaintiffs and minority-group plaintiffs." The Court also rejected the Sixth Circuit's heightened "background circumstances" rule for majority-group plaintiffs.[^10] ## When - **1878:** The State Legislature merged the St. Anthony and Minneapolis school boards into the Minneapolis Board of Education.[^11] - **2000:** The Minneapolis branch of the NAACP sued, alleging that students were being denied an adequate education. The suit resulted in "The Choice is Yours," a program supporting low-income students who attend suburban schools.[^12] - **September 22, 2009:** The board unanimously adopted an amended version of Changing School Options. The board described the plan as a route to "financial sustainability."[^13] - **2019:** The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers proposed layoff protections for teachers at the 15 most racially segregated schools. The district rejected the proposal.[^9] - **March 8, 2022:** Minneapolis teachers began an 18-day strike. Its settlement contained Article 15, the Black Men Teach agreement and the 2% BIPOC salary enhancement.[^8] - **December 9, 2025:** The Department of Justice filed the Title VII complaint.[^2] ## Where - The district serves Minneapolis. Proposed school closures have fallen mostly in North Minneapolis.[^12] - The federal case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.[^4] ## How - Changing School Options divided the city into three transportation zones. Each zone offers K–8 magnet options and comprehensive high school programming. Citywide special education and English-learner students keep cross-zone transportation.[^13] - The challenged employment terms entered the contract through the 2022 strike settlement, not through board policy or statute.[^8] - The record does not establish the board's vote on that settlement. ## How much - **Salary enhancement:** the 2022 settlement set the BIPOC salary enhancement at 2%.[^8] ## How many - **Enrollment and schools:** the district enrolls 36,370 students in about one hundred schools. These include: - 45 elementary, 7 middle and 7 high schools; - 8 special education and 8 alternative schools; - 19 contract alternative schools; - 5 charter schools.[^1] - **Languages:** students speak ninety languages at home.[^1] - **Charter law:** Minnesota's charter schools operate under Minn. Stat. ch. 124E, which codifies the State's 1991 charter law. That law was the first in the nation.[^14] - **Enrollment history:** - 46,256 students in 2001–02.[^12] - In 2007–08, about 10,000 eligible Minneapolis children attended schools outside the district.[^12] - Around 2,000 students take part in The Choice is Yours through the West Metro Education Program.[^12] - **2019 proposal:** it covered 15 schools. A coalition source gives teachers of color at about 4.2% of the district's teachers, set against a majority-minority student body; this is the coalition's figure, not an official count.[^9] - **2022 strike:** 18 days.[^8] ## In the at-issue record - **Alleged hiring targets.** The project's at-issue record (pair AI-Ramsey-059) summarizes the federal complaint as alleging preferential treatment by race in hiring, layoff and reassignment. It records numerical targets of 40% BIPOC staffing by 2026 and 54.3% BIPOC new hires by 2026–27. These are allegations.[^3] - The record anchors the pair to the January 2025 presidential action *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity*.[^15] - **Saint Paul comparison.** The same pair notes that the complaint was filed against MPS, not [[Saint Paul Public Schools]]. Saint Paul adopted a Racial Equity Policy in July 2013.[^16] The Ramsey matrix records one current federal civil-rights instrument against that district: OCR Case No. 05-23-1138, a Section 504 / ADA Title II resolution dated September 8, 2023, under OCR monitoring.[^17] - **Federal losses.** A second pair (AI-Humphrey-066) records the MPS suit as dismissed, alongside other federal losses: - *US v. Walz*, No. 0:25-cv-02668, an in-state tuition case, was dismissed on March 27, 2026 by Judge Menendez and is on appeal.[^18] - The sanctuary-policy suit, No. 0:25-cv-03798, was dismissed on July 20, 2026 by Judge [[Eric Tostrud]].[^19] ## In the Minnesota record ### What - **The State Title VII case.** The Department's release No. 26-21 (January 14, 2026) is titled "United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime." Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified that case as a matter of general public importance.[^20] - The complaint, *[[United States v. State of Minnesota (0:26-cv-00273)]]*, is brought under Title VII. It cites [[Minn. Stat. § 43A.191]] eight times, including subd. 3(c)'s requirement that an agency explain why it hired a non-affirmative candidate.[^21] - The pack does not show the district complaint citing § 43A.191. - **Title IX.** On September 30, 2025, the federal Departments of Education and Health and Human Services found Minnesota in violation of [[Title IX]].[^22] On March 30, 2026, the United States filed *US v. Minnesota Department of Education*, No. 0:26-cv-02078. That complaint's contents are allegations.[^23] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Minneapolis Public Schools* (rev. 1371436689, retrieved Oct. 27, 2026), lead section — district identity, governance, enrollment, school and language counts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis_Public_Schools [^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *press release announcing suit against Minneapolis Public Schools* (Dec. 9, 2025, per project time table row TL-0942) — filing and the three challenged contract provisions. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-minneapolis-public-schools-racial-discrimination-against-teachers [^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *United States v. Minneapolis Public Schools*, No. 0:25-cv-04571 (D. Minn.) — case record; allegations, not adjudicated facts. https://www.justice.gov/crt/case/united-states-v-minneapolis-public-schools [^4]: U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, *court website* — venue record. https://www.mnd.uscourts.gov/ [^5]: *Wright Claims Exposure Matrix* (project dossier, validated, Sept. 2, 2026), row C8 — records 0:25-cv-04571 as dismissed. The linked DOJ release documents the filing, not the dismissal. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-minneapolis-public-schools-racial-discrimination-against-teachers [^6]: *Ramsey Claims Exposure Matrix* (project dossier, validated, Sept. 2, 2026), row C6 — lists 0:25-cv-04571 as a complaint (allegations). https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-minneapolis-public-schools-racial-discrimination-against-teachers [^7]: Wikipedia, *Minneapolis Public Schools*, section *Leadership* — board self-description, authority and current officers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis_Public_Schools [^8]: Star Tribune, *Minneapolis teachers strike 2022* (per project time table row TL-0915) — March 8, 2022 start, 18-day strike, settlement terms. https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-teachers-strike-2022/600149651 [^9]: Solutions Not Suspensions / Education Equity Coalition, *Education Equity Coalition* (per time table row TL-0877) — 2019 union proposal, district rejection, ~4.2% figure. https://soallstudentsthrive.org/education-equity-coalition [^10]: Supreme Court of the United States, *Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services*, 605 U.S. 303 (2025) — holding on majority-group plaintiffs. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1039_c0n2.pdf [^11]: Wikipedia, *Minneapolis Public Schools*, section *Selected history of Minneapolis schools* — 1878 board merger. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis_Public_Schools [^12]: Wikipedia, *Minneapolis Public Schools*, section *Enrollment* — enrollment figures, 2000 NAACP suit, The Choice is Yours, North Minneapolis closures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis_Public_Schools [^13]: Wikipedia, *Minneapolis Public Schools*, section *Changing school options (2009)* — Sept. 22 vote and three-zone plan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis_Public_Schools [^14]: Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, *Minnesota Statutes Chapter 124E — Charter Schools* — codification of the 1991 charter law. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/124E [^15]: The White House, *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity* (Jan. 2025) — presidential action anchoring at-issue pair AI-Ramsey-059. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ [^16]: Saint Paul Public Schools, *Racial Equity Policy page* (district self-publication) — July 2013 adoption, per Ramsey matrix row E-R16. https://www.spps.org/domain/11910 [^17]: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, *Resolution letter, OCR Case No. 05-23-1138* (Sept. 8, 2023) — Section 504 / ADA Title II resolution for Saint Paul Public Schools. https://www.ed.gov/media/document/05231138-apdf-25761.pdf [^18]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *US v. Walz*, No. 0:25-cv-02668 — dismissed Mar. 27, 2026 (Menendez, J.); on appeal. https://clearinghouse.net/case/46742/ [^19]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *US v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:25-cv-03798 — dismissed July 20, 2026 (Tostrud, J.). https://clearinghouse.net/case/47014/ [^20]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — release title and Attorney General's certification. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^21]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Complaint, United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:26-cv-00273 (D. Minn. filed Jan. 14, 2026) — Title VII claims; eight citations of § 43A.191. https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1423361/dl [^22]: U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, *press release on Minnesota Title IX finding* (Sept. 30, 2025) — agency finding of violation. https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-and-us-department-of-health-and-human-services-find-minnesota-violated-title-ix [^23]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Complaint, United States v. Minnesota Department of Education*, No. 0:26-cv-02078 (D. Minn. filed Mar. 30, 2026) — Title IX complaint (allegations). https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1433251/dl