Admissions to change at Thomas Jefferson High, and others

[Anonymous]

No, many kids there didn’t prep. Any many who did prep didn’t get in!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pigeonholing the idea of "merit" as being entirely measurable by exam scores and GPA is just not within the realm of reality.

This is a great example of a poster who feels free to comment without knowing anything. The current application process is not just exam scores and GPA. It includes teacher recs.

My half asian kids at TJ never prepped (but did visit libraries, museums and were read to). People don’t care and make sweeping judgments about Asians and prep culture and denigrate students there. It’s horrendous that people are so comfortable with racism towards Asian Americans. When TJ was mostly white, no one minded. Same with elite colleges. Langley and McLean are mostly white but no one is talking about redistricting them.

People are making sweeping (factual) statement about TJ having a de minimis number of black students. Either FCPS can find a way to fix that, or they can close TJ- racial segregation, even if unintended, isn't going to get any more support from the state or school board- the meeting have made that clear

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The only thing that TJ would realistically need to adjust is the number of base-level (i.e. Geometry or TJ Math 1) sections that they offer to incoming freshmen - which is not really a big deal. Indeed, if you actually talk to math teachers at TJ, many of them are frustrated with the level of acceleration of the students that come in because their math foundations are weaker. They have learned how to do the advanced math, but not really how to understand it on a conceptual level. TJ would offer the same classes and the same rigor - you'd just have a very slightly higher volume of students at lower math levels that they already offer.

That would defeat the purpose of TJ, though. One of the important aspects of TJ is that there is a critical mass of students who are capable of taking post-AP classes. If you remove that critical mass, then those classes could no longer be offered, and the TJ course offerings would end up looking like every other FCPS high school. They possibly should get rid of the TJ 2nd round and instead do a racially proportional lottery for all TJ semifinalists or finalists.

Part of the problem is that there's such a difference between course rigor at various middle schools. If they strengthened the middle school programs at schools other than Longfellow, Carson, and Rocky Run, then there would be a more diverse group of kids ready to take advantage of TJ's offerings. From what people have said about Longfellow academics, my kids' school (Lainer) is pretty pathetic in comparison.

1) There is nothing in any sort of purpose or mission statement of TJ that says anything about kids being able to take post-AP classes.

2) You would see fewer students in post-AP math classes, but that's about it.

3) There might be fewer sections of some of these classes, but they wouldn't be eliminated entirely. TJ has strong enough numbers in these classes that every student there would still have the same opportunities.

4) Man, you are 100% correct about the issues at middle schools. HUGE differences between what a student gets at one school versus another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't admission be based on merit?

Does merit include kids whose parents start reading to them, exposing them to science, and exposing them to math when they are infants?

Research shows that kids whose parents read to them from when they are babies are far better prepared for school then kids who do not. My kid had access to lots of books. We read to him every day, many times throughout the day. He had access to blocks, magnatiles, legos, tinker toys, and other engineering/construction type toys. We took him to museums and watched science based tv shows with him. We could do that because we could afford those objects, knew about the library, and had the time to take him places and do things with him. A family who makes less money then we do and does not have the same background cannot provide the same opportunities.

Kids from that family are not less intelligent then my son, they have had fewer opportunities to develop their intelligence. Their parents don't have the money or time or knowledge or combination of all three. So those kids are far more likely to be excluded from AAP and TJ simply because their parents lack the resources to provide for them what I could provide for my son.

Does merit include tutoring that starts in Kindergarten or even earlier? That tutoring gives kids an advantage in school and testing, which is more likely to lead to AAP and TJ.

We have not done any extra tutoring for our son, he is 8. We encourage him in his interests, we play math games and encourage him at home. He was accepted into AAP.He had a huge advantage over kids whose parents couldn't/didn't/don't know how to give their kids the same opportunities that we gave our son. How many kids entering AAP have had the benefits my son had and then add tutoring on top of it. Tutoring starts in pre-school for some families. There are test centers to prep kids for the NNAT, CogAT, and TJ exams. Is that merit?

You call it merit, others call it prepping and advantages that not every family knows about or can afford.

I don't call it prepping. I call it good parenting. Do you think setting a schedule and making sure your kids do their homework and go to bed on time prepping? There are plenty of parents who don't do this, buy their kids phones in elementary and let them have unlimited access. You have to decide what's important in your house.

There is a huge difference with making sure your child does their homework, eats well, and goes to bed on time and sending your kid for advanced tutoring in Math so that they can take Algebra in 6th or 7th grade. I would argue the same about travel sports as well. Part of the reason these kids are bored in school is because their parents started sending them to tutoring when they were 4 or 5. I have no doubt that these kids would be doing just fine in math without that tutoring. And I suspect they would do just fine in life if they took Algebra in 8th Grade. You can encourage a kids interest without attempting to promote them ahead of their classmates.

And while I fully believe that their are kids who love math, DS is one of them, I don't really buy that AoPS is in business because there are soooo many kids who really want to do extra math during the week or on the weekends. And I sure as heck know that the number of NNAT, CogAT, and TJ Prep centers are not there because kindergarteners and first graders are asking their parents to study for a test. I suspect that the same is true for the kids in the TJ programs. So much of these programs are driven by parents who seem to think that it is important that their kids do their homework, eat well, go to bed on time, and attending extra tutoring to get ahead in subject materials.

Racist and envious

That PP doesn't seem to understand that in some cultures, education and high stakes exams are viewed as a way to a prosperous future and parents view it as their duty to provide every possible advantage to their kids. Likewise kids are taught that they owe it to their family to succeed so that they can in turn support their parents in old age.

good for them, there is no reason for a public school system to cater to that expectation

There's nothing wrong with high standards. Thats not an east Asian value. Other cultures have the same values.

When those standard result in a negligible number of black students in TJ and slightly more hispanic students, the district needs find out how to fix the problem. You can call it merit or culture, but it's still segregation if the best school in the county has almost no African Americans

We've spent 70 years and billions of dollars to try and fix that problem with no improvement. Our country tried to do something similar a hundred years ago by taking away native american kids away from their parents and putting them into state run boarding schools to uplift them and that failed spectacularly and was incredibly cruel to all involved.

Wow. I have no other words for the raw racism and ridiculous false equivalence.

Who are you people? It’s disgusting to think you are in the same community.

It's the elephant in the room that everyone wants to ignore. Calling something "racist" doesn't solve the issue. It is a fact that we have spend a tremendous amount of money on the war on poverty and it hasn't raised outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't admission be based on merit?

Does merit include kids whose parents start reading to them, exposing them to science, and exposing them to math when they are infants?

Research shows that kids whose parents read to them from when they are babies are far better prepared for school then kids who do not. My kid had access to lots of books. We read to him every day, many times throughout the day. He had access to blocks, magnatiles, legos, tinker toys, and other engineering/construction type toys. We took him to museums and watched science based tv shows with him. We could do that because we could afford those objects, knew about the library, and had the time to take him places and do things with him. A family who makes less money then we do and does not have the same background cannot provide the same opportunities.

Kids from that family are not less intelligent then my son, they have had fewer opportunities to develop their intelligence. Their parents don't have the money or time or knowledge or combination of all three. So those kids are far more likely to be excluded from AAP and TJ simply because their parents lack the resources to provide for them what I could provide for my son.

Does merit include tutoring that starts in Kindergarten or even earlier? That tutoring gives kids an advantage in school and testing, which is more likely to lead to AAP and TJ.

We have not done any extra tutoring for our son, he is 8. We encourage him in his interests, we play math games and encourage him at home. He was accepted into AAP.He had a huge advantage over kids whose parents couldn't/didn't/don't know how to give their kids the same opportunities that we gave our son. How many kids entering AAP have had the benefits my son had and then add tutoring on top of it. Tutoring starts in pre-school for some families. There are test centers to prep kids for the NNAT, CogAT, and TJ exams. Is that merit?

You call it merit, others call it prepping and advantages that not every family knows about or can afford.

I don't call it prepping. I call it good parenting. Do you think setting a schedule and making sure your kids do their homework and go to bed on time prepping? There are plenty of parents who don't do this, buy their kids phones in elementary and let them have unlimited access. You have to decide what's important in your house.

There is a huge difference with making sure your child does their homework, eats well, and goes to bed on time and sending your kid for advanced tutoring in Math so that they can take Algebra in 6th or 7th grade. I would argue the same about travel sports as well. Part of the reason these kids are bored in school is because their parents started sending them to tutoring when they were 4 or 5. I have no doubt that these kids would be doing just fine in math without that tutoring. And I suspect they would do just fine in life if they took Algebra in 8th Grade. You can encourage a kids interest without attempting to promote them ahead of their classmates.

And while I fully believe that their are kids who love math, DS is one of them, I don't really buy that AoPS is in business because there are soooo many kids who really want to do extra math during the week or on the weekends. And I sure as heck know that the number of NNAT, CogAT, and TJ Prep centers are not there because kindergarteners and first graders are asking their parents to study for a test. I suspect that the same is true for the kids in the TJ programs. So much of these programs are driven by parents who seem to think that it is important that their kids do their homework, eat well, go to bed on time, and attending extra tutoring to get ahead in subject materials.

Racist and envious

That PP doesn't seem to understand that in some cultures, education and high stakes exams are viewed as a way to a prosperous future and parents view it as their duty to provide every possible advantage to their kids. Likewise kids are taught that they owe it to their family to succeed so that they can in turn support their parents in old age.

good for them, there is no reason for a public school system to cater to that expectation

Agree. And high school sports teams should also be based on lottery.

The whole notion of arbitrary tryouts that skew towards athletes that have been prepped is unjust and racist.

All kids deserve the chance to play on the teams and with equal playing time. The diversity of the team will only make the team better.

That is how education works, but it is not how sports work. There is tons of research on the value of educational diversity. There is no research on the value of diversity in athletic team membership. Coaching, perhaps.

This is one of the most tired tropes out there and honestly needs to retire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pigeonholing the idea of "merit" as being entirely measurable by exam scores and GPA is just not within the realm of reality.

This is a great example of a poster who feels free to comment without knowing anything. The current application process is not just exam scores and GPA. It includes teacher recs.

My half asian kids at TJ never prepped (but did visit libraries, museums and were read to). People don’t care and make sweeping judgments about Asians and prep culture and denigrate students there. It’s horrendous that people are so comfortable with racism towards Asian Americans. When TJ was mostly white, no one minded. Same with elite colleges. Langley and McLean are mostly white but no one is talking about redistricting them.

Exam scores and GPA are the first barrier to admission. That first barrier is the thing that most "merit" parents are working to save - they abhor the other softer elements of the process, like the teacher recs and the student information sheet responses (that's right, I know what the hell I'm talking about). They hate that the process of getting from 1200 to 480 is mostly subjective, or at least appears to be.

And by the way, "merit" parents aren't just Asian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pigeonholing the idea of "merit" as being entirely measurable by exam scores and GPA is just not within the realm of reality.

This is a great example of a poster who feels free to comment without knowing anything. The current application process is not just exam scores and GPA. It includes teacher recs.

My half asian kids at TJ never prepped (but did visit libraries, museums and were read to). People don’t care and make sweeping judgments about Asians and prep culture and denigrate students there. It’s horrendous that people are so comfortable with racism towards Asian Americans. When TJ was mostly white, no one minded. Same with elite colleges. Langley and McLean are mostly white but no one is talking about redistricting them.

Aren’t the white kids all prepping too?

Interest among white families has plummeted in recent years. TJ sees less than half of the white applicants year-over-year than they did 6-8 years ago. Some white families prep too, but there are much fewer of them in the application process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't admission be based on merit?

Does merit include kids whose parents start reading to them, exposing them to science, and exposing them to math when they are infants?

Research shows that kids whose parents read to them from when they are babies are far better prepared for school then kids who do not. My kid had access to lots of books. We read to him every day, many times throughout the day. He had access to blocks, magnatiles, legos, tinker toys, and other engineering/construction type toys. We took him to museums and watched science based tv shows with him. We could do that because we could afford those objects, knew about the library, and had the time to take him places and do things with him. A family who makes less money then we do and does not have the same background cannot provide the same opportunities.

Kids from that family are not less intelligent then my son, they have had fewer opportunities to develop their intelligence. Their parents don't have the money or time or knowledge or combination of all three. So those kids are far more likely to be excluded from AAP and TJ simply because their parents lack the resources to provide for them what I could provide for my son.

Does merit include tutoring that starts in Kindergarten or even earlier? That tutoring gives kids an advantage in school and testing, which is more likely to lead to AAP and TJ.

We have not done any extra tutoring for our son, he is 8. We encourage him in his interests, we play math games and encourage him at home. He was accepted into AAP.He had a huge advantage over kids whose parents couldn't/didn't/don't know how to give their kids the same opportunities that we gave our son. How many kids entering AAP have had the benefits my son had and then add tutoring on top of it. Tutoring starts in pre-school for some families. There are test centers to prep kids for the NNAT, CogAT, and TJ exams. Is that merit?

You call it merit, others call it prepping and advantages that not every family knows about or can afford.

I don't call it prepping. I call it good parenting. Do you think setting a schedule and making sure your kids do their homework and go to bed on time prepping? There are plenty of parents who don't do this, buy their kids phones in elementary and let them have unlimited access. You have to decide what's important in your house.

There is a huge difference with making sure your child does their homework, eats well, and goes to bed on time and sending your kid for advanced tutoring in Math so that they can take Algebra in 6th or 7th grade. I would argue the same about travel sports as well. Part of the reason these kids are bored in school is because their parents started sending them to tutoring when they were 4 or 5. I have no doubt that these kids would be doing just fine in math without that tutoring. And I suspect they would do just fine in life if they took Algebra in 8th Grade. You can encourage a kids interest without attempting to promote them ahead of their classmates.

And while I fully believe that their are kids who love math, DS is one of them, I don't really buy that AoPS is in business because there are soooo many kids who really want to do extra math during the week or on the weekends. And I sure as heck know that the number of NNAT, CogAT, and TJ Prep centers are not there because kindergarteners and first graders are asking their parents to study for a test. I suspect that the same is true for the kids in the TJ programs. So much of these programs are driven by parents who seem to think that it is important that their kids do their homework, eat well, go to bed on time, and attending extra tutoring to get ahead in subject materials.

Racist and envious

That PP doesn't seem to understand that in some cultures, education and high stakes exams are viewed as a way to a prosperous future and parents view it as their duty to provide every possible advantage to their kids. Likewise kids are taught that they owe it to their family to succeed so that they can in turn support their parents in old age.

good for them, there is no reason for a public school system to cater to that expectation

There's nothing wrong with high standards. Thats not an east Asian value. Other cultures have the same values.

When those standard result in a negligible number of black students in TJ and slightly more hispanic students, the district needs find out how to fix the problem. You can call it merit or culture, but it's still segregation if the best school in the county has almost no African Americans

We've spent 70 years and billions of dollars to try and fix that problem with no improvement. Our country tried to do something similar a hundred years ago by taking away native american kids away from their parents and putting them into state run boarding schools to uplift them and that failed spectacularly and was incredibly cruel to all involved.

Wow. I have no other words for the raw racism and ridiculous false equivalence.

Who are you people? It’s disgusting to think you are in the same community.

It's the elephant in the room that everyone wants to ignore. Calling something "racist" doesn't solve the issue. It is a fact that we have spend a tremendous amount of money on the war on poverty and it hasn't raised outcomes.

It's not "the elephant in the room". It's your skewed perspective. Systemic racism continues to oppress today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't admission be based on merit?

Does merit include kids whose parents start reading to them, exposing them to science, and exposing them to math when they are infants?

Research shows that kids whose parents read to them from when they are babies are far better prepared for school then kids who do not. My kid had access to lots of books. We read to him every day, many times throughout the day. He had access to blocks, magnatiles, legos, tinker toys, and other engineering/construction type toys. We took him to museums and watched science based tv shows with him. We could do that because we could afford those objects, knew about the library, and had the time to take him places and do things with him. A family who makes less money then we do and does not have the same background cannot provide the same opportunities.

Kids from that family are not less intelligent then my son, they have had fewer opportunities to develop their intelligence. Their parents don't have the money or time or knowledge or combination of all three. So those kids are far more likely to be excluded from AAP and TJ simply because their parents lack the resources to provide for them what I could provide for my son.

Does merit include tutoring that starts in Kindergarten or even earlier? That tutoring gives kids an advantage in school and testing, which is more likely to lead to AAP and TJ.

We have not done any extra tutoring for our son, he is 8. We encourage him in his interests, we play math games and encourage him at home. He was accepted into AAP.He had a huge advantage over kids whose parents couldn't/didn't/don't know how to give their kids the same opportunities that we gave our son. How many kids entering AAP have had the benefits my son had and then add tutoring on top of it. Tutoring starts in pre-school for some families. There are test centers to prep kids for the NNAT, CogAT, and TJ exams. Is that merit?

You call it merit, others call it prepping and advantages that not every family knows about or can afford.

I don't call it prepping. I call it good parenting. Do you think setting a schedule and making sure your kids do their homework and go to bed on time prepping? There are plenty of parents who don't do this, buy their kids phones in elementary and let them have unlimited access. You have to decide what's important in your house.

There is a huge difference with making sure your child does their homework, eats well, and goes to bed on time and sending your kid for advanced tutoring in Math so that they can take Algebra in 6th or 7th grade. I would argue the same about travel sports as well. Part of the reason these kids are bored in school is because their parents started sending them to tutoring when they were 4 or 5. I have no doubt that these kids would be doing just fine in math without that tutoring. And I suspect they would do just fine in life if they took Algebra in 8th Grade. You can encourage a kids interest without attempting to promote them ahead of their classmates.

And while I fully believe that their are kids who love math, DS is one of them, I don't really buy that AoPS is in business because there are soooo many kids who really want to do extra math during the week or on the weekends. And I sure as heck know that the number of NNAT, CogAT, and TJ Prep centers are not there because kindergarteners and first graders are asking their parents to study for a test. I suspect that the same is true for the kids in the TJ programs. So much of these programs are driven by parents who seem to think that it is important that their kids do their homework, eat well, go to bed on time, and attending extra tutoring to get ahead in subject materials.

Racist and envious

That PP doesn't seem to understand that in some cultures, education and high stakes exams are viewed as a way to a prosperous future and parents view it as their duty to provide every possible advantage to their kids. Likewise kids are taught that they owe it to their family to succeed so that they can in turn support their parents in old age.

good for them, there is no reason for a public school system to cater to that expectation

Agree. And high school sports teams should also be based on lottery.

The whole notion of arbitrary tryouts that skew towards athletes that have been prepped is unjust and racist.

All kids deserve the chance to play on the teams and with equal playing time. The diversity of the team will only make the team better.

That is how education works, but it is not how sports work. There is tons of research on the value of educational diversity. There is no research on the value of diversity in athletic team membership. Coaching, perhaps.

This is one of the most tired tropes out there and honestly needs to retire.

It's not a tired trope. It is a double standard.

There is value in diversity in all areas of life, so how can you now say that without some '"research" studies, that value of diversity in athletic teams is not there.

Of course it's there, just like it is in the classroom, in the workplace, in neighborhoods, in counties. The sports teams need to reflect the diversity of the community that supports them around it.

And in school, you can say with straight face that diversity in the classroom is important and valuable but not just outside the classroom windows that look out onto the sports fields?

[Anonymous]

every kid should be encouraged to play high school sports. Just like academics, athletics are good for kids. I think sports should be no cut and have playing time for every kid. Of course the kids looking to get recruited for anything other than football all play in more competitive leagues and would probably forgo playing for school (a lot already do), so you may get less push back than you think

[Anonymous]

Underrepresented minorities don’t apply very much. White applicants are declining. Vague reasons of “culture.” It’s clearly racism towards Asian Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't admission be based on merit?

Does merit include kids whose parents start reading to them, exposing them to science, and exposing them to math when they are infants?

Research shows that kids whose parents read to them from when they are babies are far better prepared for school then kids who do not. My kid had access to lots of books. We read to him every day, many times throughout the day. He had access to blocks, magnatiles, legos, tinker toys, and other engineering/construction type toys. We took him to museums and watched science based tv shows with him. We could do that because we could afford those objects, knew about the library, and had the time to take him places and do things with him. A family who makes less money then we do and does not have the same background cannot provide the same opportunities.

Kids from that family are not less intelligent then my son, they have had fewer opportunities to develop their intelligence. Their parents don't have the money or time or knowledge or combination of all three. So those kids are far more likely to be excluded from AAP and TJ simply because their parents lack the resources to provide for them what I could provide for my son.

Does merit include tutoring that starts in Kindergarten or even earlier? That tutoring gives kids an advantage in school and testing, which is more likely to lead to AAP and TJ.

We have not done any extra tutoring for our son, he is 8. We encourage him in his interests, we play math games and encourage him at home. He was accepted into AAP.He had a huge advantage over kids whose parents couldn't/didn't/don't know how to give their kids the same opportunities that we gave our son. How many kids entering AAP have had the benefits my son had and then add tutoring on top of it. Tutoring starts in pre-school for some families. There are test centers to prep kids for the NNAT, CogAT, and TJ exams. Is that merit?

You call it merit, others call it prepping and advantages that not every family knows about or can afford.

I don't call it prepping. I call it good parenting. Do you think setting a schedule and making sure your kids do their homework and go to bed on time prepping? There are plenty of parents who don't do this, buy their kids phones in elementary and let them have unlimited access. You have to decide what's important in your house.

There is a huge difference with making sure your child does their homework, eats well, and goes to bed on time and sending your kid for advanced tutoring in Math so that they can take Algebra in 6th or 7th grade. I would argue the same about travel sports as well. Part of the reason these kids are bored in school is because their parents started sending them to tutoring when they were 4 or 5. I have no doubt that these kids would be doing just fine in math without that tutoring. And I suspect they would do just fine in life if they took Algebra in 8th Grade. You can encourage a kids interest without attempting to promote them ahead of their classmates.

And while I fully believe that their are kids who love math, DS is one of them, I don't really buy that AoPS is in business because there are soooo many kids who really want to do extra math during the week or on the weekends. And I sure as heck know that the number of NNAT, CogAT, and TJ Prep centers are not there because kindergarteners and first graders are asking their parents to study for a test. I suspect that the same is true for the kids in the TJ programs. So much of these programs are driven by parents who seem to think that it is important that their kids do their homework, eat well, go to bed on time, and attending extra tutoring to get ahead in subject materials.

Racist and envious

That PP doesn't seem to understand that in some cultures, education and high stakes exams are viewed as a way to a prosperous future and parents view it as their duty to provide every possible advantage to their kids. Likewise kids are taught that they owe it to their family to succeed so that they can in turn support their parents in old age.

good for them, there is no reason for a public school system to cater to that expectation

Agree. And high school sports teams should also be based on lottery.

The whole notion of arbitrary tryouts that skew towards athletes that have been prepped is unjust and racist.

All kids deserve the chance to play on the teams and with equal playing time. The diversity of the team will only make the team better.

That is how education works, but it is not how sports work. There is tons of research on the value of educational diversity. There is no research on the value of diversity in athletic team membership. Coaching, perhaps.

This is one of the most tired tropes out there and honestly needs to retire.

It's not a tired trope. It is a double standard.

There is value in diversity in all areas of life, so how can you now say that without some '"research" studies, that value of diversity in athletic teams is not there.

Of course it's there, just like it is in the classroom, in the workplace, in neighborhoods, in counties. The sports teams need to reflect the diversity of the community that supports them around it.

And in school, you can say with straight face that diversity in the classroom is important and valuable but not just outside the classroom windows that look out onto the sports fields?

The job of a school is to educate its students. The job of a sports team is to compete against other schools and try to win contests while representing the school well - and perhaps on some level, to give kids an opportunity to be recruited to play those sports at another school. If you see education as a competitive sport in that same light, that's a MAJOR worldview problem.

It's not a double standard - it's comparing two things that are not comparable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pigeonholing the idea of "merit" as being entirely measurable by exam scores and GPA is just not within the realm of reality.

This is a great example of a poster who feels free to comment without knowing anything. The current application process is not just exam scores and GPA. It includes teacher recs.

My half asian kids at TJ never prepped (but did visit libraries, museums and were read to). People don’t care and make sweeping judgments about Asians and prep culture and denigrate students there. It’s horrendous that people are so comfortable with racism towards Asian Americans. When TJ was mostly white, no one minded. Same with elite colleges. Langley and McLean are mostly white but no one is talking about redistricting them.

Asian Americans are a racial minority. They did not own slaves. They work hard. They are culturally focused. They are often singled out and looked down upon. BUT they don't care much, because they have a clear view. They are over represented at TJ.

Why can't other racial minorities be like the Asians? Down with the Asians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pigeonholing the idea of "merit" as being entirely measurable by exam scores and GPA is just not within the realm of reality.

This is a great example of a poster who feels free to comment without knowing anything. The current application process is not just exam scores and GPA. It includes teacher recs.

My half asian kids at TJ never prepped (but did visit libraries, museums and were read to). People don’t care and make sweeping judgments about Asians and prep culture and denigrate students there. It’s horrendous that people are so comfortable with racism towards Asian Americans. When TJ was mostly white, no one minded. Same with elite colleges. Langley and McLean are mostly white but no one is talking about redistricting them.

Aren’t the white kids all prepping too?

Interest among white families has plummeted in recent years. TJ sees less than half of the white applicants year-over-year than they did 6-8 years ago. Some white families prep too, but there are much fewer of them in the application process.

And there are only 20 or so white females at TJ in each class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Underrepresented minorities don’t apply very much. White applicants are declining. Vague reasons of “culture.” It’s clearly racism towards Asian Americans.

Declining interest in a school where those aren’t Asian are turned away far more often and where you may be mistreated even if you do get in isn’t racist. If there is any racism on display, it comes from those who casually assert URMs don’t belong there.