WILL Warns Governor Evers Over Taxpayer Funded Race-Based Teacher Loans
The News: The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) is demanding Governor Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board (HEAB) immediately suspend Wisconsin’s Minority Teacher Loan (MTL) Program. The taxpayer-funded program gives loans to certain prospective teachers, but eligibility for the loans is limited based on race, ethnicity, and ancestry.
The program violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and closely mirrors a race-based state scholarship program unanimously struck down by the Wisconsin Supreme Court earlier this year.
The Quote: WILL Deputy Counsel Rebecca Furdek stated, “Wisconsin cannot decide who receives taxpayer-funded educational opportunities based upon the color of their skin. The Wisconsin Supreme Court just unanimously struck down a nearly identical race-based program. Governor Evers and HEAB should follow the Constitution, end this discrimination, and ensure these opportunities are available to all Wisconsin students, regardless of race.”
Background: The MTL Program provides loans of up to $10,000 each year for three years to students pursuing teaching licenses in designated teacher-shortage areas. Portions of the loans can be forgiven for graduates who teach in qualifying Wisconsin schools.
But even students who meet the program’s academic, licensing, and teaching requirements are ineligible unless they belong to racial or ethnic groups specified by state law. A student who would otherwise qualify is prevented from receiving up to $30,000 in taxpayer-funded assistance solely because of his or her race.
