More than 50 Minnesota K-12 school districts are offering taxpayer-funded financial incentives to teachers based on race, with “teachers of color” and “teachers who are American Indian” receiving pay bonuses and special layoff protections not available to other staff, according to an investigation by the education advocacy group Defending Education.
The program, adopted under a framework called “Policy 425 – Staff Development and Mentoring,” allows districts to pay race-targeted financial bonuses to minority teachers who commit to staying in a school or district for at least five years. It also creates race-based “affinity groups” that shield minority teachers from layoffs during their early years of employment.
Under the policy, districts may fund the incentives through state staff development revenue, special legislative grants, or other sources. The policy also calls for placing “American Indian educators at sites with other American Indian educators and educators of color at sites with other educators of color,” citing goals of reducing isolation and increasing collegial support.
Defending Education reviewed more than 100 Minnesota school districts. Of those, 50 were found to have adopted Policy 425. Fifty-seven appeared not to have implemented it. The group noted that Policy 425 appears to mirror a model policy from the Minnesota School Boards Association. The association’s model is protected by a paywall, and the MSBA did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
Teachers who do not qualify under the race-based criteria receive no equivalent benefit.
“Public schools providing financial incentives based on race is racial discrimination, plain and simple,” Paul Runko, senior director of Strategic Initiatives for Defending Education, told Fox News Digital. “These 50 school districts need to take a hard look at these policies, both morally and legally, and make the changes needed to comply with federal civil rights law.”
The findings come as school districts across the country face mounting legal challenges over race-conscious hiring and retention programs. Critics argue the Minnesota policies are legally vulnerable following the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling striking down race-based admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. That ruling addressed higher education, but civil rights advocates contend the same anti-discrimination principles apply to K-12 public employment.
No school district has announced plans to revise or repeal the policies. No charges have been filed against any district. Minnesota’s legislature is currently in session, though no bill specifically targeting Policy 425 has advanced.
