To help address teacher shortage, Illinois must end unfair racial discrimination in scholarship opportunities
Illinois needs teachers. Earlier this year, the State Board of Education published a report on the state’s teacher shortage, estimating that Illinois schools have nearly 4,000 vacancies. And 87% of education leaders say that teacher shortages are a problem. Meanwhile, a poll conducted last year for the Illinois Education Association found that 60% of the state’s teachers and support staff are considering leaving the profession. Given these challenges, state education leaders should do everything possible to encourage young people to pursue teaching careers.
That’s the purpose of the Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship program, which eases the financial burden for aspiring teachers so that more students can pursue education careers. But that program suffers from a serious limitation: only members of preferred minority groups are eligible for the scholarship. That not only restricts opportunities for students who want to go into teaching, it’s also blatantly discriminatory. That is why the scholarship program faces a federal court challenge.
The Illinois General Assembly created the MTI Scholarship in 1992 to “encourage academically talented minority students to pursue teaching careers” and “to address and alleviate the teacher shortage crisis.” That a new generation of state leaders are still struggling to address teacher shortages 33 years later should be a red flag that the program has not succeeded at achieving its stated goals.
The scholarship terms are generous. Recipients are provided $7,500 per year to defray tuition, room and board, and other expenses at qualified higher education institutions. Given the high cost of college tuition, that sum represents a significant incentive for aspiring teachers. In return for the scholarship, recipients are contractually obligated to take on a full-time teaching position in Illinois schools.
More than 13,700 students have benefitted from this scholarship opportunity, all drawn from a handful of preferred racial groups: applicants must be African-American, Asian, Hispanic, American Indian/Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.
Proponents of the program argue that providing an additional boost to designated minority groups is needed to improve student outcomes. The pernicious assumption is that the race of the teacher affects the performance of the student. But by that standard, it hasn’t succeeded According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a popular tool for measuring student academic achievement across states, Illinois student outcomes in math and reading continue to lag, with minority students facing the most challenges.
So in terms of addressing teacher shortages and improving student outcomes, it’s hard to see how the MTI Scholarship can be judged as a success. But going beyond those issues, the program is also fundamentally unfair, as the scholarship’s eligibility criteria, which discriminate on racial grounds, are clearly unconstitutional.
That’s why the American Alliance for Equal Rights, on behalf of an Illinois high school student who wants to pursue a teaching career but is ineligible for the scholarship based on her race, has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the program on constitutional grounds. The suit argues that the scholarship’s race-based exclusions violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, which makes it clear that the government cannot discriminate against individuals based on arbitrary classifications like racial background.
Recent years have brought an overdue rethinking of divisive race-conscious policies, with Americans increasingly questioning their fairness and effectiveness. The 2023 Supreme Court decision in the case of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which ruled that race-based standards for university admissions violate the Constitution, was a critical step forward in the fight for equality and fairness. A victory for the plaintiff, putting an end to Illinois’ discriminatory scholarship programs, would likewise be a step in the right direction.
The basic aim of the teacher scholarship program — encouraging more young people to take on the challenges and rewards of a career in education — is worthy. But eligibility for the scholarship should be determined by factors like academic achievement, talent and drive, rather than skin color. Illinois schools should focus on recruiting, hiring and investing in the ongoing development of the most qualified and most engaged teachers, regardless of race. That means that rather than limiting opportunities, the state should cast a wider net to attract more qualified applicants. Eliminating discriminatory standards in state scholarship programs is a good place to start.
