Tim Walz’s Discriminatory Minnesota Teachers Of Color Scholarship Challenged By Equal Protection Project

Tim Walz’s Discriminatory Minnesota Teachers Of Color Scholarship Challenged By Equal Protection Project

The Equal Protection Project (EPP) (EqualProtect.org) of the Legal Insurrection Foundation has challenged numerous discriminatory programs done in the name of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This discrimination comes in various ways, but the overarching theme is to exclude or diminish some people and promote others, based on race, color, ethnicity, or sex. In all we have filed over thirty complaints and legal actions since launch in February 2023, with over half the schools withdrawing or modifying the discriminatory programs. (See EPP Mid-2024 Impact Reports.)

In our latest action, there is a twist. We have filed a Civil Rights Complaint (full embed at bottom of post) with the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education, against the Minnesota Office of Higher Education for a racially discriminatory scholarship program signed into law and funded by Governor (and VP nominee) Tim Walz.

From the Complaint:

We make this civil rights complaint against the Minnesota Office of Higher Education (“MOHE”) – a cabinet-level state agency that provides students with financial aid programs to help them gain access to postsecondary education2 – for administering a racially discriminatory scholarship called the Minnesota Aspiring Teachers of Color Scholarship Pilot Program (“Teachers of Color” scholarship).3 The Teachers of Color scholarship “provides postsecondary financial assistance to eligible undergraduate and graduate students who are preparing to become teachers, have demonstrated financial need, and belong to racial or ethnic groups underrepresented in the state’s teacher workforce.”4 [image omitted]

3 In 2021, Gov. Tim Walz signed into law legislation that authorized the appropriation of funding for postsecondary financial assistance to undergraduate and graduate students who are preparing to become teachers, have demonstrated financial need, and belong to racial or ethnic groups underrepresented in the Minnesota teacher workforce. *** In 2024, Gov. Walz signed into law HF 5237, an education supplemental budget bill that appropriated $1,000,000 for the Teachers of Color scholarship….

To be eligible for the Teachers of Color scholarship, an applicant must, among other things, be an undergraduate or graduate student who is preparing to become teachers and be “a person of color or American Indian.”5 [image omitted]

The scholarship provides students who are accepted into the program with up to $10,000 annually with a lifetime cap of $25,000.6

We then explain by OCR has jurisdiction over this state Office:

OCR has jurisdiction over this complaint. The MOHE is a state agency and a recipient of federal funding, including from the U.S. Department of Education.12 It is therefore liable for violations of Title VI and the Equal Protection Clause, and subject to OCR jurisdiction.13

The NY Post broke the story:

Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz approved a state law that discriminates against white students who want to become educators by barring them from applying for a “teachers of color” scholarship program, according to a bombshell civil rights complaint obtained by The Post.

The “Aspiring Teachers of Color Scholarship” program — worth up to $25,000 per student — is restricted to applicants who have financial need and “belong to a racial or ethnic group underrepresented in the state’s teacher workforce,” a press release from the governor’s office crowed this past June.

However, the Equal Protection Project (EPP) claimed in a complaint filed Monday with the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights that the Walz administration is practicing blatant bias in violation of Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“The Minnesota Aspiring Teachers of Color Scholarship openly discriminates based on race and skin color,” said EPP founder William Jacobson, a clinical law professor at Cornell University. “Regardless of the intention, such discrimination is wrong and unlawful under both federal and state law.” ….

“The Equal Protection Project calls on Governor Walz to use his executive authority to end racial discrimination by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education regarding the Aspiring Teachers of Color Scholarship, which he signed into law and funded,” Jacobson added.

“All Minnesota students have a constitutional and statutory right to be treated equally without regard to race or skin color.” …

“There is no ‘good’ form of racism, and the remedy for racism is not more racism,” said Jacobson, echoing Chief Justice John Roberts’ majority opinion in that case.

The EPP has previously filed other complaints against racial preference programs run by the New York State Education Department, Fordham University, and the State University of New York’s Albany campus and Buffalo Law School.

The University of Minnesota last year backed away from implementing racial requirements for a summer program that banned white students.

Reminder: We are a small organization going up against powerful and wealthy government and private institutions devoted to DEI discrimination. Donations are greatly needed and appreciated.

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