March 10, 2021, outside the federal courthouse in Alexandria, V., where her organization filed a lawsuit against Fairfax County's school board, alleging discrimination against Asian Americans over its revised admissions process for the elite Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. (Matthew Barakat, File/AP) More ways to share...
The case in Alexandria is being heard while the U.S. Supreme Court is weighing whether to hear a similar case filed by Asian families against Harvard University over its admissions policies. U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton gave no indication at Tuesday's hearing of how he might rule, but he said he sees no reason to hold a trial on the matter.
The US Supreme Court has temporarily reinstated a woke admissions policy at an elite Virginia public high school designed to increase its racial and socioeconomic diversity.
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. Get the full experience. Choose your plan
Thomas Jefferson High School has infamously lacked diversity for years. In the ’90s, that meant a vast majority of white students. In more recent years, it has meant a mostly Asian-American student body. But the nagging issue has been a lack of African-American, Hispanic, and low-income students.
As the argument unfolded, Brabrand changed tack. By October, he offered a new proposal. This one still scrapped the teacher recommendations and the standardized test, but also abandoned the lottery.
The Thomas Jefferson Alumni Action Group still prefers the lottery, but the school’s diversity numbers went up enough that they are willing to accept the current system for the time being.