The Department of Justice has sued the Providence Public School District and the Rhode Island Department of Education, accusing them of "blatant race discrimination" over a loan forgiveness initiative aimed at diversifying the teaching force.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Providence, challenges a program launched in 2021 that provided up to $25,000 in debt relief exclusively for teachers of color and was funded by the Rhode Island Foundation.

Why It Matters

The case is more than a local dispute. It's a flashpoint in the national fight over race-conscious policies in education.

At stake is whether efforts to diversify the teaching workforce, long shown to improve outcomes for students of color, will survive a federal crackdown that interprets civil rights law to ban n

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