With lawmakers set to debate admissions rules for governor's schools, the TJ lawsuit is proceeding in court.

Critics of the new process unearthed a school official's text message that said: "there has been an anti asian feel underlying some of this"

Judge to decide lawsuit alleging admissions discrimination | AP News
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — An elite public high school in northern Virginia discriminated against Asian American families when it overhauled its admissions

Judge to decide lawsuit alleging admissions discrimination

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
January 18, 2022

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — An elite public high school in northern Virginia discriminated against Asian American families when it overhauled its admissions policies amid a push to increase Black and Hispanic representation at the school, lawyers argued Tuesday.

A federal judge in Alexandria heard arguments on whether the new admissions policy at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology discriminates against Asian Americans, or simply tries to level the playing field so that other minorities can gain admission.

The case has garnered significant attention in part because of the school’s prestigious status: it was ranked the best public high school in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. Large numbers of graduates are routinely accepted to Ivy League schools, and parents in the region jockey to get their kids admitted.

But Black and Hispanic students have been woefully underrepresented in the student body for decades. In 2020, as the debate over racial equity intensified nationwide, the Fairfax County School Board significantly revised the admissions policy. Standardized tests that had been the key factor in admissions were scrapped, and a $100 application fee was eliminated.

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