Minneapolis has decided the thing that matters most for teachers is their skin color. Naturally, the real issue is that conservatives noticed.
That would be the takeaway if you read the Associated Press’s coverage of the move. Minneapolis teachers simply “celebrated a groundbreaking provision” in their contract after a 14-day strike that would target white teachers for firings, according to AP’s Steve Karnowski. Everything was perfect until those dastardly conservatives dared to say that firing people based on race is a terrible, racist policy.
Karnowski notes that “the contract language doesn’t specifically say that white teachers would be laid off ahead of teachers of color, though critics say that’s what the effect would be.” Those critics are correct, as the policy exempts teachers from “populations underrepresented” from seniority-based layoffs.
After noting how conservative media “erupted in denunciations” and “sparked criticisms,” the piece then turns itself over to activist spin. According to Karnowski, “Advocates say students from racial minorities perform better” when their teachers are minorities. That claim could use a citation, but then, he quotes a teacher who says that white students also perform better when their teachers are minorities. If we are to listen to Karnowski’s chosen advocates, the problem appears to be white teachers.
Conservative criticism of this plan is not a defense of seniority-based firings. Being a teacher for a long time does not necessarily mean you have been a good teacher, especially with all the protections afforded based on seniority. But it is certainly not as useless as using skin color as a factor in decision-making. No race is predisposed to being a good or bad teacher, regardless of what supporters of the Minneapolis policy are effectively claiming. To the extent that race matters to students, it matters only because adults have imposed toxic racial ideas on them.
Is it any wonder that the United States lags behind other countries in education when the primary thing teachers and administrators now focus on in schools is skin color? These protections are not a “teensy, tiny step towards equity,” as the teachers unions claim. They are a massive step backward for equality and tolerance, and they do nothing to help students learn. Perhaps that is a little more important than the fact that conservative media noticed them.
