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IL state teacher scholarship program unconstitutionally excludes white applicants, lawsuit says

COOK COUNTY RECORD

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

IL state teacher scholarship program unconstitutionally excludes white applicants, lawsuit says

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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is named as a defendant in a lawsuit accusing the state of discriminating against white teacher scholarship applicants. Pritzker was not governor when the program was created in 1992. | illinois.gov

A new lawsuit accuses the state of Illinois of explicitly discriminating against white students by excluding them from applying to participate in a longstanding state-funded scholarship program the state says was set up to "diversify" the ranks of Illinois' public school teachers.

On Oct. 22, the organization known as the American Alliance for Equal Rights filed suit in federal court in Springfield against the state, seeking a court order attempting to essentially shut down the state's so-called Minority Teachers of Illinois Scholarship Program.

The American Alliance for Equal Rights is represented in the action by attorneys with the nonprofit constitutional law organization, the Pacific Legal Foundation.

"Illinois can offer assistance to young, aspiring teachers, but not when they exclude a significant number of applicants based on their skin color,” said PLF attorney Erin Wilcox, in a release announcing the lawsuit.

“The exclusion of non-minority applicants not only misses the mark on providing an equal opportunity for all future teachers, it violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.”

The lawsuit is among several the Alliance for Equal Rights has launched in recent months, taking aim against a host of such programs nationwide. In those lawsuits, the organization has argued the U.S. Constitution and recent rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court should no longer allow government agencies and employers to use programs, whether decades old and among those recently established under the rubric of "diversity, equity and inclusion" (DEI)to discriminate against white students and prospective employees in the name of "diversity."

The new lawsuit similarly asserts the Illinois scholarship program violates the constitutional rights of primarily white potential applicants, by explicitly limiting inclusion in the program solely to “'minority students' ... classified as: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander."

The program was established under Illinois law in 1992, and is funded annually by the state.

According to a description of the program posted on the Illinois Office of Management and Budget site, the Minority Teachers of Illinois Scholarship Program exists "to help diversity the teaching pool and provide a supply of well-qualified and diverse teachers for hard-to-staff schools."

The OMB, with the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, further said the program was designed "with a goal of narrowing the achievement gap associated with race, based in part on theories that minority children may perform better if some of their teachers are members of racial/ethnic minority groups."

Scholarship recipients participating in the program must also be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident in Illinois; be enrolled in a college or university in Illinois, studying to become a licensed teacher; and must have a 2.5 grade point average or better, among other requirements.

Those selected to participate in the program are eligible to receive up to $7,500 per year toward their college education.

Those participating in the program are then contractually obligated to work in an Illinois preschool, elementary school or high school, where "no less than 30 percent of the students are minority students."

According to the lawsuit, the American Alliance for Equal Rights has at least one member of its organization - named in the complaint as a female student identified solely as "Member A" - who wishes to apply for a scholarship through the program, but cannot, solely on the basis of her race.

While acknowledging Illinois suffers from a teacher shortage, the American Alliance for Equal Rights said the racial exclusions included in the 32-year-old scholarship program is a constitutionally impermissible solution.

"Such blatant race-based discrimination against individuals who could otherwise contribute to a robust teacher pipeline in Illinois serves no compelling government purpose. It is demeaning, patronizing, un-American, and unconstitutional," the Alliance said in its lawsuit.

The Alliance has asked the judge to issue a permanent injunction blocking the state from continuing to exclude white students or others who don't fit the scholarship program's racial limitations from participating in the program.

They are not seeking any money damages, other than attorney fees.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Wilcox and Samantha R. Romero, of the Pacific Legal Foundation, of Sacramento, California.

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