Illinois scholarship program accused of excluding white applicants

The state of Illinois is being sued over a teaching scholarship program that is being called racist.

Pacific Legal Foundation filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of the American Alliance for Equal Rights challenging the Minority Teachers for Illinois Scholarship Program, saying it discriminates against non-minorities.

The program awards scholarships of up to $7,500 per year for tuition, fees, commuter allowances, and room and board for up to four academic years of full-time college enrollment. According to the scholarship’s website, awards made under the program are intended to “help diversify the teaching pool and provide a supply of well-qualified and diverse teachers for hard-to-staff schools.”

The law states that at least 35% of the fund appropriated for scholarships shall be reserved for male minority applicants, with priority being given to qualified Black male applicants beginning with fiscal year 2023.

PLF attorney Erin Wilcox said the scholarship, which has been around since 1992, is a clear violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.

“It’s taxpayer-funded scholarships that are reupped every year by the legislature and they reappropriate new funds for it every year and the constitution is pretty explicit that the government cannot discriminate on the basis of race, and that is exactly what Illinois is doing with this scholarship,” said Wilcox.

The lawsuit claims the program discriminates against those who are not American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, or Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and “who could otherwise contribute to a robust teacher pipeline.”

“Illinois can offer assistance to young, aspiring teachers, but not when they exclude a significant number of applicants based on their skin color,” said Wilcox.

A request for comment from the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which administers the scholarships, was not immediately returned.