Local Education
Judge calls Thomas Jefferson High admissions changes illegal
The prestigious Fairfax school ‘disproportionately deprived’ Asian Americans of a level playing field, according to the ruling
By Hannah Natanson
Yesterday at 4:41 p.m. EST
A federal judge ruled Friday that a new admissions system for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, a prestigious magnet program in Fairfax, discriminates against Asian American applicants and must end.
U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton concluded that an effort to boost African American and Latino representation at TJ, as the school is known, constitutes an illegal act of “racial balancing.” He added that the school board altered the admissions process — eliminating a notoriously difficult test and a $100 application fee, choosing instead to evaluate students on “experience factors” such as socioeconomic background — in a rushed, sloppy and opaque manner.
Hilton wrote that “emails and text messages between Board members and high-ranking FCPS officials leave no material dispute that, at least in part, the purpose of the Board’s admissions overhaul was to change the racial makeup to TJ to the detriment of Asian-Americans.”
“The proper remedy for a legal provision enacted with discriminatory intent is invalidation,” Hilton wrote, before issuing a stark order: “Defendant Fairfax County School Board is enjoined from further use or enforcement of” its revised admissions system.
[Judge cancels trial in suit against Fairfax schools over TJ admissions, will issue judgment]
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By Hannah Natanson
Hannah Natanson is a reporter covering education and K-12 schools in Virginia. Twitter
https://twitter.com/hannah_natanson
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