Trump administration lawsuit claims R.I. is discriminating against white teachers

"Filed Tuesday, the complaint accuses the Rhode Island Department of Education and the state-run Providence Public School District of "blatant race discrimination." The lawsuit specifically takes aim at the "Educators of Color Loan Forgiveness Program," which offers up to $25,000 in student debt repayments for new teachers in Providence. "The catch: white teachers are not eligible," the complaint notes. With a student body that is more than 90% non-white, Providence has long sought to recruit more teachers of color."

""While assisting new teachers in paying off their student loans may be a worthy cause, such a benefit of employment simply cannot be granted or withheld on the basis of the teachers' race," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon argued in a statement. "We will not tolerate such plainly prohibited discrimination in employment," she added. The federal government is asking a judge to declare the loan forgiveness program discriminatory and to bar Rhode Island officials from implementing the program on the basis of race."

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Rhode Island Department of Education and the Providence Public School District alleging that the Educators of Color Loan Forgiveness Program unlawfully discriminates against white teachers. The program, created in 2021 to recruit more teachers of color in Providence, offers up to $25,000 in student debt repayments for new teachers who are Black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, or multiracial. The complaint notes that white teachers are not eligible. The DOJ seeks a court declaration that the program is discriminatory, an injunction barring race-based implementation, and equitable relief for ineligible new teachers. The lawsuit followed an investigation by the Civil Rights Division's Employment Litigation Section.

Read at Boston.com