PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has initiated a civil rights lawsuit against the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) and the Providence Public School District (PPSD), claiming that a student loan forgiveness program has discriminated against white teachers, which is a breach of federal law.
At the heart of the lawsuit is the “Educators of Color Loan Forgiveness Program,” a district-wide initiative that was launched in 2021 in collaboration with the Rhode Island Foundation (RIF). This program provided up to $25,000 in student loan forgiveness to new teachers in Providence who identify as “teachers of color,” specifically including those who identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, or multiracial — while explicitly excluding white teachers from eligibility.
The DOJ’s complaint, submitted in U.S. District Court, asserts that this exclusion represents a pattern or practice of racial discrimination, which violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
“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,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. “We will not tolerate such plainly prohibited discrimination in employment.”
$3.1 Million Allocated Over Five Years
The program, as outlined in court documents, allocated $3,175,000 over a minimum of five years to encourage the hiring and retention of up to 127 “teachers of color” within the Providence school system. The DOJ claims that by specifically excluding white teachers, the program not only breached federal employment laws but also denied certain educators fair access to financial support solely based on their race.
The DOJ is requesting the court to:
- Declare the program illegal under Title VII,
- Issue a permanent injunction to stop RIDE and PPSD from continuing or initiating similar race-based initiatives, and
- Provide equitable relief to any teachers who were left out of the program due to their race.
The lawsuit originates from an investigation by the Employment Litigation Section of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. Although the program aimed to tackle teacher diversity — a recognized issue in numerous public school districts across the country — the DOJ contends that such objectives cannot supersede legal safeguards against race-based employment practices.
You can view the complaint here.
