September 2023 | Volume 15, Issue 2

Read the full article from NBC News.

According to the article, a parents group backed by a conservative legal organization recently asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether an admissions policy aimed at diversifying an elite Virginia high school is racially discriminatory.

The case over how students are selected to attend Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology came to the court two months after its conservative majority barred colleges and universities from considering race as a factor in admissions.

But unlike the higher education cases, the admissions policy adopted in 2020 by Virginia’s Fairfax County School Board for the state-chartered magnet high school was on its face race neutral.

The Alexandria-based school, known as TJ, often ranks among the best U.S. public high schools.

The board eliminated a standardized test from its admissions process, capped the number of students from each of the district’s middle schools and guaranteed seats for the top students from each.

After the overhaul, the share of Black and Hispanic students increased, but the percentage of Asian American students fell to 54% from 73% in the first year.

A parents group called Coalition for TJ, whose members include Asian Americans, sued, saying the policy was adopted with a racially discriminatory purpose in violation of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

In February 2022, U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton sided with the parents’ group lawyers at the libertarian Pacific Legal Foundation.

In May, however, the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed him, saying the board did not intend to discriminate against Asian Americans and had a legitimate interest in “expanding the array of student backgrounds.”

In their recent petition asking the Supreme Court to hear the case, the coalition’s lawyers said the court’s June decision ending affirmative action in college admissions “might mean little if schools could accomplish the same discriminatory result through race-neutral proxies.”

The school board’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last year the Supreme Court declined an emergency request to block its policy, though three conservative justices dissented.

Discussion Questions

  1. What is the nature of the dispute in this case?
    The crucial issue, in this case, is whether the admissions policy implemented in 2020 by Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Alexandria, Virginia is racially discriminatory.
  2. Define affirmative action and explain how affirmative action relates (if at all) to this case.
    According to the Oxford Dictionary, affirmative action is “the practice or policy of favoring individuals belonging to groups regarded as disadvantaged or subject to discrimination.” In the context of education, it is a policy aimed at increasing educational opportunities for people who are underrepresented.

    In the subject case, if the admissions policy at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology is aimed at diversifying its student population, then yes, affirmative action is at issue.

    As the article notes, in June 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court barred colleges and universities from considering race as a factor in admissions. If the Supreme Court elects to take up the subject case, the conservative majority could expand this newly established precedent to elite, competitive admissions high schools like Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology.
  3. Do you agree with U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton’s decision in this case, or do you side with the opinion of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals? Explain your response.
    This is an opinion question, so student responses may vary.

    Your author supports the reasoning of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, that the Fairfax County School Board did not intend to discriminate against Asian Americans and had a legitimate interest in “expanding the array of student backgrounds.” Your author firmly believes that diversity is essential to the overall student experience and the quality of education that students receive.

    Parenthetically, note that after implementation of the new admissions policy at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, the share of Black and Hispanic students increased, and that the percentage of Asian American students fell from 73% to 54%. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Asian population in Fairfax County (where the high school is located) makes up approximately 17% of county residents. Even at 54% of the student population at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, that still represents more than three times the percentage of Asian Americans in the general population in Fairfax County.