DOJ sues RIDE, PPSD alleging racial discrimination in loan repayment program

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The Department of Justice has sued the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) and the Providence Public School District (PPSD) for what the DOJ is calling “racial discrimination against teachers.”

The claim stems from an investigation into the 2021 implementation of the joint RIDE/PPSD Educators of Color Loan Forgiveness Program.

DOJ is claiming that the program violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

A Tuesday statement from the DOJ reads in part:

The Program is described as an “incentive” to “encourage teachers of color” to teach at PPSD and obliges PPSD to “recruit and retain up to 127 teachers of color” during that period. Under the Program, “Teachers of color” includes teachers “who identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, and/or 2 or more races” and excludes only white teachers.

The program was established in 2021 through Rhode Island Foundation funding totaling $3.1 million.

These funds were allocated as an incentive to provide student loan repayment funds for teachers of color in the Providence Public School District.

This was with the intention of hiring and retaining more teachers of color as 80 percent of the PPSD roles are students of color.

Teachers of color comprised 20 percent of the district’s educators at that time.

RIDE and PPSD issued a joint statement that reads in full:

Over the last few months, PPSD and RIDE worked in good faith with the U.S. Department of Justice to reach a resolution on this matter. PPSD and RIDE officials have not been served, and we were not informed by federal representatives that they would proceed with a lawsuit. Since there is active litigation, PPSD and RIDE will not be commenting further.