{"id":1354172,"date":"2022-03-02T05:05:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T10:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1354172"},"modified":"2022-03-02T07:40:28","modified_gmt":"2022-03-02T12:40:28","slug":"court-ruling-deals-decisive-blow-to-race-based-admission-policy-at-top-high-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-ruling-deals-decisive-blow-to-race-based-admission-policy-at-top-high-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Court Ruling Deals Decisive Blow To Race-Based Admission Policy At Top High School"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcourt-ruling-deals-decisive-blow-to-race-based-admission-policy-at-top-high-school%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1354172&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/asian-e1646192019985-1191x675-1.jpg\" class=\"img-fluid w-100 wp-post-image\" alt=\"asian\" \/><br \/>\n          <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A federal judge\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pacificlegal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Coalition-for-TJ-v.-Fairfax-County-School-Board-Decision.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ruled<\/a>\u00a0that the Fairfax County school board\u2019s race-based admission process to an elite high school illegally discriminated against Asian American students.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) is the best high school in the nation and is known for its academic rigor. Historically, the admission process at TJ was race-blind and merit-based. Applicants must go through a multi-stage evaluation process and meet a set of criteria, including passing three competitive standardized tests. For the 2020-2021 school year, the racial makeup of TJ was 71.97 percent Asian American, 18.34 percent white, 3.05 percent Hispanic, and 1.77 percent black.<\/p>\n<p>Following George Floyd\u2019s tragic death in 2020, the Fairfax County school board deemed the \u201coverrepresentation\u201d of Asian American students and the underrepresentation of black and Hispanic students at TJ \u201cunacceptable.\u201d To \u201ccounter racism and discrimination in our society,\u201d the board believed it must change TJ\u2019s admission process and criteria to bring in more black and Hispanic students by reducing the number of Asian American students.<\/p>\n<p>The school board quickly voted to replace TJ\u2019s merit-based admission with a \u201cholistic\u201d evaluation, aiming to make the TJ student body closely mimic the racial demographics of Fairfax County. At the time, the countywide racial makeup of students was: 36.8 percent white, 27.1 percent Hispanic, 19.8 percent Asian, and 10 percent black.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"lowering-standards-for-equity\">Lowering Standards for \u2018Equity\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>The\u00a0school board eliminated the three competitive entrance exams and altered minimum academic requirements. TJ\u2019s new \u201cholistic\u201d admission is a point-based system. Students who meet specific social-economic criteria, such as attending a middle school deemed \u201chistorically underrepresented at TJ\u201d or being eligible for free and reduced lunches will receive \u201cexperience factors\u201d \u2014 basically bonus points to boost their total score and help them secure admissions at TJ. The new admission process also guarantees seats at TJ for 1.5 percent of students at each participating public middle school in the district.<\/p>\n<p>The school board claimed such holistic admission was necessary to \u201cachieve greater equity\u201d and was not about \u201celiminating merit but rather reframing our understanding of merit.\u201d But text messages and emails from the school board members had demonstrated that they knew from the start that the new admission was really about decreasing the representation of qualified Asian American students at TJ to attain the board\u2019s desired racial balance in the school\u2019s student body.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"anti-asian-bias\">Anti-Asian Bias<\/h2>\n<p>Furthermore, board members were fully aware that, contrary to their stated objective of achieving education \u201cequity\u201d for students of color, TJ\u2019s new process\u2019s biggest beneficiary wouldn\u2019t be black or Hispanic students but white students. In a text exchange, school board member Stella Pekarsky wrote that the new proposal \u201cwill whiten our schools and kick [out] Asians. How is that achieving the goal of diversity?\u201d Another member, Abrar Omeish, replied, \u201cI mean, there has been an anti Asian feel underlying some of this, hate to say it, lol!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After TJ\u2019s new admission process went into effect in 2021, the enrollment data revealed that TJ admitted 56 fewer Asian American students than it did in the prior school year. Asian Americans make up 54 percent of TJ\u2019s 2025 class, significantly dropping from 73 percent of class 2024.<\/p>\n<p>When Asian, black, and other concerned parents voiced concern about the fairness of TJ\u2019s new admission process, the school board used racially charged terms to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/unherd.com\/2022\/02\/anti-racism-betrays-asian-students\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">denounce<\/a>\u00a0them, such as telling Asian Americans to check their \u201cprivilege\u201d and calling any advocacy for a merit-based\u00a0admission \u201csegregation bullsh*t.\u201d This name-calling revealed\u00a0the school board\u2019s bigotry and ignorance of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/topic\/race-ethnicity\/racial-ethnic-groups\/asian-americans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ethnic diversity and wide income gaps<\/a>\u00a0within the Asian American community. Refusing to give up, Asian American parents led a coalition of families and alumni from diverse racial backgrounds to challenge TJ\u2019s race-based admission process in court. The Pacific Legal Foundation provided legal representation to the coalition.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"the-real-discrimination\">The Real Discrimination<\/h2>\n<p>In his ruling, federal judge Claude Hilton determined that the Fairfax County school board\u2019s discussion of TJ admission changes \u201cwas infected with racial balancing since inception\u201d and had demonstrated \u201cdiscriminatory intent.\u201d TJ\u2019s enrollment data proved beyond doubt that the new \u201cholistic\u201d admissions had disproportionately affected Asian American students, depriving them of a level playing field. Judge Hilton further noted, \u201cWhether accomplished overtly or via proxies, racial balancing is not a compelling interest,\u201d and the board \u201ccannot transform racial balancing into a compelling interest, simply by relabeling it \u2018racial diversity.&#8217;\u201d Judge Hilton concluded that \u201cracial balancing for its own sake is \u2018patently unconstitutional.&#8217;\u201d Therefore, he ruled in favor of the coalition.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The TJ case represents another triumph of Asian Americans\u2019 activism. In San Francisco, partially driven by the school board\u2019s decision to eliminate a merit-based admission to Lowell High school, Asian Americans led a grass-roots campaign to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/sf-school-board-recall-shows-new-political-awakening-asian-americans-opinion-1681193\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recall<\/a>\u00a0three leftist school board members with a landslide victory.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"asian-americans-fight-for-meritocracy\">Asian Americans Fight For Meritocracy<\/h2>\n<p>The Democrat Party and its progressive allies have to realize by now that there is nothing more important to Asian Americans than education and meritocracy. Many Asian Americans are immigrants like me, who came to the United States with no intergenerational wealth nor deep-rooted network. A meritocracy-based education provides us with the only fair chance to succeed in this country. When Democrats and their progressive allies eliminate meritocracy-based education and deny Asian kids an equal opportunity, it is no different than burning down the single ladder Asian Americans rely on for upward mobility. As both the San Francisco school board recall and the TJ lawsuit have demonstrated, Asian Americans will fight against such injustice and bigotry with all our vigor, tenacity, and determination.\u00a0<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Judge Hilton\u2019s ruling in the TJ case also dealt a decisive blow to the race-based admission policy. A survey by Pew Research\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/fact-tank\/2019\/02\/25\/most-americans-say-colleges-should-not-consider-race-or-ethnicity-in-admissions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shows<\/a>\u00a0that most Americans (73 percent) believe schools should not consider race or ethnicity when making decisions about student admissions. Yet Democrats and their allies continue to ignore public opinions while pushing for racial preference in elite high schools and colleges, all in the name of equity and anti-racism.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The U.S.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/topic\/supreme-court\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Supreme Court<\/a>\u00a0recently\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/supreme-court\/supreme-court-will-consider-challenges-affirmative-action-harvard-unc-admissions-n1287915\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">agreed<\/a>\u00a0to take on two college affirmative action cases. It will <a href=\"https:\/\/studentsforfairadmissions.org\/harvards-education-in-discrimination\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">consider<\/a> whether the undergraduate admission processes at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina discriminated against Asian American students. Judge Hilton\u2019s ruling gives us hope that the Supreme Court may end racial preference in student admissions once and for all. It will be a great\u00a0day for\u00a0our\u00a0country when\u00a0no American children will be denied equal opportunity because of the color of their skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  Helen Raleigh, CFA, is an American entrepreneur, writer, and speaker. She&#8217;s a senior contributor at The Federalist. Her writings appear in other national media, including The Wall Street Journal and Fox News.  Helen is the author of several books, including &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Confucius-Never-Said-Helen-Raleigh\/dp\/1499185278\/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&#038;keywords=Helen+Raleigh+Confucius+Never+Said&#038;qid=1606079469&#038;sr=8-1\">Confucius Never Said<\/a>&#8221; and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Backlash-How-Chinas-Aggression-Backfired\/dp\/1736008501\/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&#038;qid=1606006113&#038;sr=8-1\">Backlash: How Communist China&#8217;s Aggression Has Backfired<\/a>.&#8221; Follow her on Parler and Twitter: @HRaleighspeaks.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal judge\u00a0ruled\u00a0that the Fairfax County school board\u2019s race-based admission process to an elite high school illegally discriminated against Asian American students. Thomas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1354172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1354172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1354172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1354172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1354172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1354172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1354172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}