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Thomas Jefferson High School Drops Out of Top Ten

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April 24, 2024

Thomas Jefferson High School Drops Out of Top Ten Nationwide After Adopting “Equity” Admissions Policy


“TJ for the first time dropped out of the top 10 of the US News list of top US high schools, falling from being number 1 2020-2022, to 5 in 2023, to now 14 in 2024”

by James Nault
LegalInsurrection.com


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.

Fortunately, the district, or trial-level, federal court agreed that TJ’s new admissions practices violated the U.S. Constitution and enjoined it: “The American dream won!” Virginia Anti-Asian School Admission Scheme Halted By Federal Judge.

Unfortunately, the School Committee immediately appealed the decision (of course), and a divided panel of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the injunction in a 2-1 decision: Virginia High School Admissions Changes That Severely Reduced Asian Student Enrollment Upheld By Appeals Court.

So the parents applied to the U.S. Supreme Court, hoping to have the Fourth Circuit’s decision thrown out, and the Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed an amicus curiae, or “friend of the court,” brief supporting the parents: Equal Protection Project Files SCOTUS Brief Supporting Asian Students in Coalition for TJ Case.

Unfortunately (again), SCOTUS declined to review the case. However, Justice Alito, joined by Justice Thomas, issued a rare and blistering dissent: SCOTUS Refuses to Take “Race-Neutral” School Discrimination Case – Justices Alito and Thomas Blast Decision.

From Alito’s dissent:

The Court of Appeals’ decision in this case is based on a patently incorrect and dangerous understanding of what a plaintiff must show to prove intentional race discrimination….What the Fourth Circuit majority held, in essence, is that intentional racial discrimination is constitutional so long as it is not too severe. This reasoning is indefensible, and it cries out for correction….The holding below effectively licenses official actors to discriminate against any racial group with impunity….That is indefensible [and it] defies law and logic….The Fourth Circuit’s decision is based on a theory that is flagrantly wrong and should not be allowed to stand….The Court’s willingness to swallow the aberrant decision below is hard to understand. We should wipe the decision off the books, and because the Court refuses to do so, I must respectfully dissent.
Well, now we see the unholy fruits of “equity” admissions:

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Did you catch that? TJ used to be the #1 ranked high school in the country. Not anymore.

Of course, the local mainstream news media tries to spin it as a good thing: What DC-area school is ranked as one of the best in the nation:

U.S. News & World Report released its latest rankings of the nation’s best high schools and one well-known school from the D.C. region remains part of the list.

Following controversial changes to its admissions policy in 2021 to boost diversity, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia remains the top ranked school in the D.C. region and 14th in the nation, slipping from the top 10….

Schools that emphasized graduation rates received higher consideration for the list of best schools, according to LaMont Jones, managing editor of education at U.S. News & World Report. He added that the top schools in the D.C. region also represent some of the best students from underrepresented demographic groups based on race and income.

“They are pretty much firing on all of those cylinders,” Jones said.
I’m not so sure TJ’s parents and the parents of students who are objectively superior but denied admission would agree.

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Such is the result of “equity” admissions.

http://legalinsurrection.com/2024/04/thomas-jefferson-high-school-drops-out-of-top-ten-nationwide-after-adopting-equity-admissions-policy/


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