The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has raised deep concerns about the hiring practices of the City of East Providence and the East Providence School Department’s failure to address allegations of discrimination against minority employees and applicants.

In a March 6 letter to city and school officials, RI ACLU executive director Steven Brown noted that despite agreeing to change hiring practice in support of Affirmative Action goals as part of a 1994 settlement, the school department and City appear to be in violation of these commitments and are disregarding their legal obligation to implement non-discriminatory hiring practices.

Brown states in the letter: “We believe the community deserves an explanation for this current state of affairs; an accounting of why the makeup of the Department staff is so devoid of minority representation; reasons why the City and the Department have failed to abide by the critical affirmative action requirements; and a summary of the specific and concrete steps the Department has taken, is taking, and will be taking to address this critical issue. Members of the minority community in your city are, we believe, entitled to no less.”

The full letter, which outlines the City and School Department's commitments and their failures to meet them, is available here