Judge to decide lawsuit alleging admissions discrimination

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.

Instead, the school board switched to a policy that guarantees admission to the top students at each of the county's middle schools. It also takes into account factors like whether the child is eligible for free or reduced-price lunches because of his or her family's income.

Chris Kiesar — an attorney for the The Coalition for TJ, which filed the lawsuit — said the geographic quotas are merely a proxy for racial quotas, and that the school board's intent all along was to increase Black and Hispanic representation at the expense of Asian American families.

He said the school board...