District 196’s 2023-2026 ‘Achievement and Integration Plan’ includes quotas for increasing the hiring of teachers and staff based on race, staff affinity groups, race-based targeted recruitment strategies
Incidents
SUMMARY
District 196 – Rosemount – Apple Valley – Eagan Public Schools’ 2023-2026 Achievement and Integration Plan includes numerical goals to increase the hiring of teachers and staff based on race, staff affinity groups, and race-based targeted recruitment strategies. The district also facilitated a “Grow Your Own (GYO)” pathway for future teachers of color that received $750,000 in grant funding from the Minnesota Department of Education.
Achievement and Integration Plan (July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2026)
District 196’s Achievement and Integration Plan, (July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2026) submitted to the Minnesota Department of Education, includes “RID Goal 4 – Teachers of Color” which states that the “percentage of teachers of color will increase from 5% in 2023-24 to 8% in 2025-26.” Throughout the report, you’ll see the acronyms RID for “Racially Isolated District” and RIS for “Racially Identifiable School.”
Strategies listed in the district plan include the “recruitment and retention of racially and ethnically diverse teachers and administrators,” continue to “implement the established affinity groups to support educators of color, including Affinity Unite (AU) and Leaders of Color (LOC) Administrators group,” partner with “targeted teacher preparation programs to coordinate student teacher placements and evaluate candidates for possible hire before they graduate, exploring options to potentially stipend candidates during student teaching,” and a “Grow Your Own (GYO) pathway.”
Below are the three district schools that have goals (RIS) for increasing the number of teachers of color within those buildings. Strategies include mentorship, recruitment, affinity groups, retention efforts, and progress indicators per school.
Oak Ridge Elementary School of Leadership, Environmental and Health Sciences
Cedar Park Elementary STEM School
Echo Park Elementary School of Leadership Engineering and Technology
October 28, 2025, Board Update
According to an October 28, 2025, school board meeting document, the district’s percentage of “teachers of color” at both the district level (RID) and select school level (RIS) increased since the 2023-2024 school year and are on track to meet the “Achievement and Integration Plan” goals.
GROW YOUR OWN (GYO) PROGRAM
The district features a “Grow Your Own” pathway for teachers of color which received grant funding in FY2024 from the Minnesota Department of Education. According to an April 14, 2025, report from Defending Education, the district stated that enrollment in the GYO program applicants were to be “people of color or American Indian people who are seeking/enrolled in their first teacher education program to warn a Tier 3 teaching license.”
A Minnesota Department of Education Grow Your Own (GYO) – FY24 report shows that the district received $750,000 in grant funding for ten participants, all of whom were classified as “People of Color or Indigenous.”
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