BUZZ
Illinois will no longer discriminate against white applicants for a teaching scholarship.
Democratic Governor JB Pritzker signed legislation to amend the “Minority Teachers of Illinois Scholarship.” The state is currently in the middle of a federal lawsuit over the program, though this change will end the suit.
“The passage of the law will end a legal challenge pending in Springfield federal court challenging the Minority Teachers program for unconstitutionally favoring people based on race in the name of ‘diversifying’ the ranks of public school teachers in Illinois,” Jonathan Bilyk wrote in Legal Newsline.
Illinois amended the program in November, following a judge’s decision to allow a lawsuit against it to continue.
The bill, passed unanimously, “amends the Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in Illinois Act,” according to LegiScan. The law provides funding for scholarships.
It removes requirements that applicants be “racial minorities” and instead focuses on them being Illinois residents.
As previously reported by The College Fix, the $8 million a year program provides “tuition, fees, and room and board costs,” according to court documents. Non-white applicants are prohibited from applying for the scholarship.
Illinois previously defended the law.
While the plaintiffs said the program “restricts eligibility on the basis of race,” the state framed its requirements as using “race as an eligibility requirement.”
Elsewhere, the state said “race is one part of the qualification considerations.”
The Pacific Legal Foundation, along with the American Alliance for Equal Rights, brought the lawsuit on behalf of prospective white applicants for the program.
Pacific Legal released a statement celebrating the decision.
“Illinois cannot disqualify students from competing for a taxpayer-funded college scholarship because of their race,” attorney Samantha Romero-Drew stated in a news release. “Race-based discrimination is a blatant violation of the Equal Protection Clause.”
“By signing House Bill 3065, Illinois chose a more dignified principle: scholarships may support future teachers to serve in communities of need, but the state will no longer exclude applicants through racial categorization,” the civil rights group stated.
