Rhode Island education officials are facing consequences imposed by the U.S. Department of Justice for granting nearly $25,000 in student debt repayments for new teachers of color. The Providence school district serves over 19,000 students, with a vast number being students of diverse races and ethnicities, who, through the contribution of other educators of color, produced excelling academic results. As the DOJ found the program to be “discrimination in employment” against white teachers, they have sought to dismantle the current initiative. They want to find equitable relief specifically for white teachers and continue to follow a cycle of racial discrimination.
The dispute took drastic measures as President Donald Trump’s administration aimed to campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion, exposing it as a violation of the Civil Rights Act. The program in question incentivised educators of color who received positive remarks from students of color. After seeing the academic excellence produced among students, Rhode Island districts began to give benefits to educators who met the needs of other students with the same background.
Programs like these enable school districts to provide students with the etiquette, environment and education to succeed. Diversity among educators allows for inclusion among students, improving their time at school, regardless of their personal lives. It was a measure taken with zero animosity and was intended to be “used as an incentive to encourage teachers of color to teach in the District,” according to a 2021 memorandum. It is only right for a school district to hold an interest in creating environments for all students to feel included and recognized in. “What if the races were reversed?” asked Max Edan, who served in the White House during Trump’s early second term.
It seems that when a white person does not have something, a person of color cannot have it either. America does not have to hypothesize for “what ifs” because history has already depicted inequities such as these before.
The Providence Public School District website is no longer taking applicants for future student loan forgiveness programs. The DOJ has now begun to contradict its stance on a “systematically racially profiled” program by aiming to create an“award of equitable relief” to only white teachers. While no hearing date has been set for their insincere solution, one thing is for sure: the DOJ is not trying to protect the Civil Rights Act, but defuse resources that are allocated to people of color. This was a mere attempt at debunking the “woke ideology” that Trump has continuously frowned upon. If the DOJ prevails, there is a high possibility that these incentives will not be available to incoming teachers of color, regardless of whether those are the educators that diverse students perform best with.
While the DOJ claims educators should be recruited based on professional experience rather than racial background, it is essential to understand that this was never about race. Rhode Island’s Providence schools’ devotion to their students’ comfort and academic success is not based on racial segregation, but on uplifting educators who allow students to perform at their fullest potential.
Having resources available to all educators is vital to their commitment at work; however, competing between races is unethical and deprives individuals from exploring the educational field. The DOJ must accept multiculturalism in America in order for all educators and students to flourish academically.
