TJ admissions process discriminates against Asians, judge rules
A federal judge ruled that the admissions process adopted for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in 2020 illegally discriminates against Asian students.
Judge Claude Hilton of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria found the new system for selecting students to the elite, highly competitive school amounted to impermissible “racial balancing.”
The school board had revamped the admissions process to address the lack of Black and Hispanic students admitted to TJ.
In the past, a standardized test was the main factor in admissions. Grade point average, completion of certain math classes, and teacher recommendations were also considered.
Related story: Fairfax County school board adopts holistic admissions policy for Thomas Jefferson High School
Under the new system, slots at TJ were guaranteed for 1.5 percent of each middle school’s eighth-grade class among other criteria. The test and the $100 application fee were eliminated.
The percentage of Blacks at TJ went from 1 percent last year to 7 percent this year. The number of Hispanics went from 3 percent to 11 percent.
The new policy angered many Asian American parents, as the percentage of Asians dropped from 73 percent to 54 percent.
Hilton criticized the school board for its goal to have “TJ reflect the demographics of the surrounding area, described primarily in racial terms.”
“Racial balancing for its own sake is ‘patently unconstitutional,’” the ruling states. “The board cannot transform racial balancing into a compelling interest ‘simply by relabeling it racial diversity.’”
Fairfax County Public Schools said the new admission system is race neutral and that the panelists who evaluate applications don’t know the applicants’ race. FCPS is considering an appeal.
The Coalition for TJ filed a lawsuit against the new admissions policy a year ago with pro bono help from the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation. PLF attorney Erin Wilcox called Hilton’s ruling “a monumental win for parents and students here in Fairfax but also for equal treatment in education across the country.”
Related story: Thomas Jefferson HS alumni demand a more equitable admissions process
The TJ Alumni Action Group (TJAAG), which had advocated for a more equitable admissions process, issued a statement condemning the court ruling.
“We reject the Coalition for TJ’s false narrative of anti-Asian discrimination and condemn the portrayal of the Asian American community as a monolith,” TJAAG stated. “Many Asian Americans from all walks of life, including many members of our organization, strongly support pro-equity changes including TJ admissions reform.”
The new admissions process is race neutral, TJAAG states. It recognized that TJ has been “historically inaccessible to those with the fewest resources” and resulted in a “drastic increase in economically disadvantaged students from less than 1 percent of the admitted class to 25 percent.”
This decision is exactly as most legal experts predicted. The Fairfax County School Board and the school administrative staff surely know know that it is illegal in this country to unfairly discriminate against people because of their race or ethnicity, among other characteristics. However, out of a universe of alternatives for helping children gain admission to TJ based on their aptitude in math and science, the School Board explicitly chose a process based on race. The decision was irresponsible and breach of trust with the citizens of Fairfax County whose taxes have to defend the School Board’s patently illegal action.
Moreover, this dispute about the TJ admissions process is based on the mistaken assertion that not being admitted to TJ is a disadvantage to a child seeking a career in a math or science-based field. There are many alternative to TJ. My child didn’t bother to take the admissions test for TJ because we all knew he wouldn’t make the cut. Today, he’s a research scientist with an Ivy-league PhD. There are many pathways to such careers. If one doesn’t work for you, pick another.
The current, recently implemented approach has been ruled against because the judge determined that it was discriminatory in that it purports to target the enrollment of Asian Americans. But the history of the school has been one that has consistently discriminated against other groups; this change was intended to correct that forced error. If the School Board is forced to return to its previous enrollment policy (which may or may not be the outcome of this case), couldn’t they be sued because the previous policy itself was discriminatory? I think you would have a much easier case proving that only admitting handfuls of Hispanic or Black American students was unfair. In that situation, we might get a remedy that sees both approaches as inherently discriminatory. Lottery, anyone?
Correlation is not causation. Just because sone ethnicities didn’t get in at the same rate as others, doesn’t mean there was discrimination taking place. How is this difficult to understand?!
Right but using this same logic, the adverse effects on Asian American students are acceptable, so long as that wasn’t the goal in the first place.
As I understand it, if there wasn’t discriminatory intent, it’s not discrimination, even if whatever action is causal to real harm exclusively to whatever protected class.
So how does TJ moving forward address the lack of representation of the community it exists in theory to serve?
Nothing isn’t a good answer. There is so much data supporting the accepted idea that standardized testing benefits those with the most means.
The people who, as a class, reap the least benefit from a school like TJ are already advantaged, and the admissions process favors them over the people who, as a class, would reap the most benefit from TJ, and are already disadvantaged.
“Discriminatory intent” is redundant, as something can only be discriminatory if there is intent to prejudge based on immutable characteristics. The intent, the judge ruled, was “racial balancing,” which is illegal, hence the title of the article, the article, and the ruling of discrimination. Administrators knew that by artificially and unfairly increasing the percentage of one race, they would necessarily decrease the percentage of the other. That was the documented intent. It was a zero sum game.
Standardized testing is a way to level the playing field. While imperfect, it’s much better than arbitrarily separating people into groups by skin color, declaring all racial groups to be different (and therefore, the same as those with in the group with the same skin color [aka racist]), assigning a level of victim capital to each group – and handing out favors based on that (arbitrary and racist) victim capital. With this approach, there will never be anything close to equality, as we are pitting races against each other. No group will ever find this “fair” because it’s not. Those who happen to be a certain race will always face the presumption that they were given something instead of earning it. This creates resentment that didn’t exist toward these folks – and insecurity for children who may correctly deduce they didn’t earn their place.
The statement “those who benefit from a school like TJ are already advantaged” is speculative at best. In fact, the immigrant community has a strong contingent at TJ. Hard work leads to good standardized test scores, which increases the likelihood of acceptance.
Those that you crassly call “disadvantaged” which is a racist dogwhistle, likely could not perform in the accelerated program. That’s called setting them up for failure. So you either have to lower standards, or leave those who could not make the grade behind. Your ideal scenario is in practice, lose-lose.
If the school has so many applicants, can we plan to build more schools like TJ? Companies seem desperate for high tech workers and might help fund more of these types of schools. Maybe rich folks in Loudoun County could help get one funded. Empty office buildings might mitigate a search for space, though outdoor sports fields would present a problem. Maybe Astroturf on padding in above ground parking garage levels could create shaded open-air playing fields.Track teams already run on sidewalks in neighborhoods.
I agree with Pam B. in theory but most of the students are not of the “cut” to make it in for the original purpose. This school years ago was for the gifted. Truly gifted with testing standards to ensure it. It is not that now and when the incoming classes graduate that will be shown. It is now a very good school.
What the county could do is add more technical programs to all of the schools that focus on coding/web development/etc. More focus should be done in math and science. They should also bring back teaching writing, grammar, and how to research proper papers (all are not part of the curriculum).
I also agree that correlation is not causation. The numbers skew for a variety of reasons. We have the best and brightest from other COUNTRIES moving here to get their kids this opportunity. They also have been enriching their children’s education since they were little.
The best way to get into programs like TJ remains unchanged: work hard, have a good attitude, respect your teachers, and diversify your portfolio of interests and activities. Oh, and do your MATH homework! If you wanna make it in Computer Science, Physics, Robotics, or any STEM field, that’s pretty essential.
Having a level playing field (as this court decision upheld) is still the best way to facilitate these individual traits.
Do you support a level playing field for adults, too, or just children?
Standardized testing is not a level playing field by any stretch of the imagination. Google it.
Joe, a level playing field has bumps and divots. But we still call it a level playing field. What you propose has 30 ft drop-offs. Have a nice weekend all.