education

Minneapolis teachers union will layoff white teachers before ‘educators of color’

Published

6 months ago

August 15, 2022

White Minneapolis teachers will be laid off “or reassigned” before “educators of color” the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) declared. In the event that layoffs need to occur, MPS created a contract that is designed “to remedy the continuing effects of past discrimination by the District” reports Alpha News.

“Past discrimination by the District disproportionately impacted the hiring of underrepresented teachers in the District, as compared to the relevant labor market and the community, and resulted in a lack of diversity of teachers,” the agreement states.

The Star Tribune reports that the “seniority-disrupting language” of the agreement is one of the first of its kind in the entire United States. Teachers are normally laid off or excessed based on seniority alone, but the new agreement adds a racial component as well.

James Dickey, senior trial counsel at the Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC), says the racial component violates both the Minnesota and United States constitutions.

“The [collective bargaining agreement] … openly discriminates against white teachers based only on the color of their skin, and not their seniority or merit,” Dickey told Alpha News. “Minneapolis teachers and taxpayers who oppose government-sponsored racism like this should stand up against it.”

According to the Star Tribune, roughly 16% of MPS teachers with tenure and 27% of its probationary teachers are non-white, while more than 60% of students are non-white.

The agreement adds that non-white teachers, as well as those working in various programs, “may be exempted from district-wide layoff[s] outside seniority order.” The agreement also prioritizes the reinstatement of teachers from “underrepresented populations” over white teachers.

education

Hispanic Democrats ban term ‘Latinx’ used ‘to appease white rich progressives’

Published

4 days ago

February 2, 2023

Sara Carter Staff

Lawmakers in Connecticut which are both Hispanic and Democrats, have proposed a new state law to ban the term “Latinx” from all government documents. The term is deemed offensive by the lawmakers who want to end the practice.

“I’m of Puerto Rican descent and I find it offensive,” Democratic state representative Geraldo Reyes told the Associated Press.

“The Spanish language, which is centuries old, defaults to Latino for everybody,” Reyes added. “It’s all-inclusive. They didn’t need to create a word, it already exists.”

Reyes is the bill’s chief sponsor, and was joined by four other Hispanic Democrats who are also members of then Black and Puerto Rican Caucus in the Connecticut Legislature.

The Connecticut lawmakers are not alone in their sentiment. In 2021, Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego of Arizona tweeted “When Latino politicos use the term it is largely to appease white rich progressives who think that is the term we use.” Gallego added that his office was not allowed to use the term in any official communications.

To be clear my office is not allowed to use “Latinx” in official communications.
When Latino politicos use the term it is largely to appease white rich progressives who think that is the term we use. It is a vicious circle of confirmation bias. https://t.co/kMty6q7UQn

— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) December 6, 2021

National Review reports:

The same year, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest community organization in the United States, declared it would no longer use Latinx. The term has also been rejected by Real Academia Española, a governing body that oversees the Spanish language.

While the term has been enthusiastically adopted by progressive academics and far-left activists, polling reveals it has not gained traction within the broader Hispanic population.

“The word Latino is incredibly exclusionary, both for women and for non-gender conforming people,” Maia Gil’adi, a professor at Boston University, told the AP. “And the term Latinx is really useful because of the way it challenges those conceptions.”