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Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
A federal judge on Friday threw out the new system used to admit students to the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, in Virginia, saying that its adoption illegally discriminated against Asian American applicants. The decision comes as the Supreme Court prepares to consider affirmative action in higher education.
Admission to the high school is highly sought after and is considered an in to enrolling in top colleges. The high school, in considering applicants, used to rely overwhelmingly on a standardized test, which resulted—for the Classes of 2023 and 2024—in a class that was 73 percent Asian American. They were followed by white students at about 18 percent, Latinx students at 3 percent and Black students at 2 percent.
Those numbers differ substantially from the demographics of students in Fairfax County, which runs the high school: 37 percent are white, 27 percent are Latinx, 20 percent are Asian American and 10 percent are Black.
The board voted in 2020 to change the system, most notably killing the testing requirement and assuring admission to Thomas Jefferson for certain students who attended middle schools that sent few students to the high school under the old system.
Asian enrollment fell from making up 73 percent of the class to 54 percent of the class.
The county school board was sued by the Coalition for TJ, a group of parents. (The school is commonly referred to as TJ.)
In a 31-page ruling, Judge Claude M. Hilton cited statements from board members about seeking a balance among the races with Fairfax’s population.
“The evidence shows the process was rushed, not transparent, and more concerned with simply doing something to alter the racial balance at TJ without public engagement,” Judge Hilton wrote. “The discussion of TJ admissions changes was infected with talk of racial balancing from its inception.”
Fairfax officials said they are considering an appeal.
