(The Center Square) – According to Bloomington Public Schools District 87 documents, staff were directed to participate in “Privilege Walks,” where teachers start on a line and take a step forward for each “privilege” they identify with, like being white, a male, having married parents, etc.
Illinois state Rep. Regan Deering, R-Decatur, anticipates diversity, equity and inclusion “privilege walks” will likely continue despite President Donald Trump’s executive orders banning these types of programs in the public sector.
“Trump has issued a number of executive orders, but they really can only influence how federal agencies are enacting existing statutes, so not directly affecting state agencies,” said Deering. “But he [Trump] knows they can be used as a powerful tool, trying to get states to comply with his policy directives at the state level, and he’s really pushing those. But here in Illinois, Attorney General Kwame Raoul has been very vocal in public about fighting against these executive orders in court.”
Recently, the U.S. The Department of Education launched EndDEI.ed.gov, a public portal for parents, students and teachers to submit reports of discrimination based on race or sex in publicly-funded K-12 schools. Deering suspects Raoul will advise districts to continue following state law, which, she says, encourages DEI practices.
“I think we should all be very concerned about a potential loss of federal funding for the Illinois State Board of Education,” said Deering.
According to District 87 documents, the district has also launched a “Minority Teacher Recruitment Project,” which provides college scholarships to minorities who agree to come back and teach for two years in Bloomington-Normal.
Deering said the U.S. Supreme Court already had a recent ruling in the space of affirmative action.
“The Minority Teacher Recruitment Program may in fact be considered a violation [of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment],” said Deering.
In June 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that race could not be used in college admissions, citing the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision caused many schools to pause or end race-based scholarships.
According to district documents, “Reflective of the national dilemma, there remains a shortage of minority teachers within our local public school system. The project aims to rectify this situation.”
Deering said the state is facing an unprecedented teacher shortage and is struggling to get just teachers in the classroom.
“We’ve got substitute teachers being hired long term and filling teaching positions because we just don’t have the number of teachers we need,” Deering told The Center Square. “With that in mind, I think we should be focusing on hiring qualified individuals to educate our youth in Illinois, not just people that are going to check a box.”
District documents say the project is a “cooperative effort involving the schools of Bloomington-Normal, Heartland Community College, Illinois State University, and Illinois Wesleyan University.”
