The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched an investigation into a Rhode Island school district to determine whether its student loan forgiveness program for teachers discriminates against White applicants.
In a March 21 letter sent to Providence Public School District (PPSD) and the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Office announced an investigation into whether the district and education office’s employment practices — specifically a student loan forgiveness program — have engaged in racial discrimination against White teachers.
“It is important to note that we have not reached any conclusions about the subject matter of the investigation. We intend to consider all relevant information, and we welcome your assistance in helping to identify what that might be,” the letter states, as first reported by The Boston Globe.
PPSD’s “Educator of Color Loan Forgiveness Program” offers student loan forgiveness for educators of color through a grant from a nonprofit, the Rhode Island Foundation.
Recipients can receive up to $25,000 of college loans forgiven once the teacher completes three consecutive years of teaching in the district. The eligibility requirements indicate recipients must “identify as Asian, Black, Indigenous, Latino, biracial, or multi-racial” and must have at least $5,000 in student loans to repay.
Legal Insurrection Foundation (LIF), a Rhode Island-based, nonprofit investigative and research group that fights discrimination in education, filed a complaint with the Department of Education in 2022, claiming that the district was engaged in an ongoing “practice of discrimination” by making this program only available to non-White applicants.
The group was unsuccessful in getting the Biden administration to take up the case, but was “thrilled” upon learning the Trump administration’s Justice Department would be investigating.
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