The Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (also known as “TJ”) is one of the highest-ranking high schools in the country.
Unfortunately, several years ago, the Fairfax County, Virginia, school board ditched traditional standardized tests and admission selections based on the best students available and moved to an “equity” formula designed to boost admissions for middle school students identifying as racial minorities.
This caused the percentage of Asian students to drop precipitously, leading to federal court litigation asserting a violation of the United States Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
From our first post on the case back in March 2021: Lawsuit Alleges Anti-Asian Discrimination In Admissions Change At Top-Ranked Virginia High School:
[Equity-based admissions] practices at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (“TJ”) has now resulted in a lawsuit filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation. AP reports:
Located in the suburbs of the nation’s capital, the school is frequently ranked as the best in the country, and families plan for years to try to help their children gain admission.
The student body is 70% Asian American, with minuscule numbers of Black and Hispanic students.
The Fairfax County school board voted last year to revise the admissions process and eliminate a standardized test that had been a key part of the evaluation process. It also set aside a specific number of slots for students at each of the middle schools in the county.
Board members have said they hope the new process increases Black and Hispanic representation in the student body.
The lawsuit, though, alleges that the set-asides will end up hurting Asian American families that are clustered in a handful of middle schools that currently send large numbers of students to “TJ,” as the school is known.
Erin Wilcox, a lawyer with the Pacific Legal Foundation, said at a press conference Wednesday that the policies themselves are discriminatory, but the intent is made even more clear by statements from board members who said they want the changes to result in a student body with a racial makeup that matches the county’s demographics.
“The discriminatory intent they’ve shown is intertwined and an inseparable part of the policies they put in place,” Wilcox said.
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