New TJ Lawsuit Filed 3/10/21 by Pacific Legal Foundation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Scott Brabrand and the FCPS board would have been fired had they worked for Georgetown Law. They openly discriminated against one racial group.

Basically any change in policy that doesn't preserve or increase TJ's Asian population will be viewed as antiAsian. I am all for opening up TJ admissions so a broader group of students are given a opportunity to excel in STEM. I think a 3.5 with each middle school getting a certain number of slots is an excellent idea. Despite being a race neutral standard, of course it will change the racial composition of the school. I think it's great to encourage kids from all backgrounds to purse STEM careers. It can't be that FCPS can never decide to adjust TJ admissions standards in anyway that might affect the number of Asians. Given the current makeup of TJ, that's impossible outside of keeping a system that can be easily gamed by those with want to cheat, even if only a small number of people.

Would you be in favor of having the students fill out an application that does not list their name, race or gender and have them take an admissions test and then have the top 1.5% of the scorers getting admitted to TJ? That would change the demographic makeup of the student body without having to set up the "holistic" review in a manner that disadvantages those who happen to be Asian. I could get behind something like that.

This is a great idea as long as the admissions test is one that cannot be prepared for.

But also, there's nothing about being Asian that disadvantages you in a holistic review process. It's not like admissions reviewers go "eww, this person is Asian, that's gross".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Scott Brabrand and the FCPS board would have been fired had they worked for Georgetown Law. They openly discriminated against one racial group.

Basically any change in policy that doesn't preserve or increase TJ's Asian population will be viewed as antiAsian. I am all for opening up TJ admissions so a broader group of students are given a opportunity to excel in STEM. I think a 3.5 with each middle school getting a certain number of slots is an excellent idea. Despite being a race neutral standard, of course it will change the racial composition of the school. I think it's great to encourage kids from all backgrounds to purse STEM careers. It can't be that FCPS can never decide to adjust TJ admissions standards in anyway that might affect the number of Asians. Given the current makeup of TJ, that's impossible outside of keeping a system that can be easily gamed by those with want to cheat, even if only a small number of people.

Would you be in favor of having the students fill out an application that does not list their name, race or gender and have them take an admissions test and then have the top 1.5% of the scorers getting admitted to TJ? That would change the demographic makeup of the student body without having to set up the "holistic" review in a manner that disadvantages those who happen to be Asian. I could get behind something like that.

This is a great idea as long as the admissions test is one that cannot be prepared for.

But also, there's nothing about being Asian that disadvantages you in a holistic review process. It's not like admissions reviewers go "eww, this person is Asian, that's gross".

Precisely. The removal of a pre-existing systemic advantage (testing that favors years of prep and application fees that discourage folks from coming into the process late, supported by a community obsession with TJ and its prestige) is not equivalent to the introduction of a disadvantage.

TJ's artificially inflated rankings will fall because it will no longer be self-selecting for students who are excellent test-takers. But the quality of its learning community will rise sharply and quickly by weeding out many of the one-dimensional students of ALL races that are destroying it right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Scott Brabrand and the FCPS board would have been fired had they worked for Georgetown Law. They openly discriminated against one racial group.

Basically any change in policy that doesn't preserve or increase TJ's Asian population will be viewed as antiAsian. I am all for opening up TJ admissions so a broader group of students are given a opportunity to excel in STEM. I think a 3.5 with each middle school getting a certain number of slots is an excellent idea. Despite being a race neutral standard, of course it will change the racial composition of the school. I think it's great to encourage kids from all backgrounds to purse STEM careers. It can't be that FCPS can never decide to adjust TJ admissions standards in anyway that might affect the number of Asians. Given the current makeup of TJ, that's impossible outside of keeping a system that can be easily gamed by those with want to cheat, even if only a small number of people.

Would you be in favor of having the students fill out an application that does not list their name, race or gender and have them take an admissions test and then have the top 1.5% of the scorers getting admitted to TJ? That would change the demographic makeup of the student body without having to set up the "holistic" review in a manner that disadvantages those who happen to be Asian. I could get behind something like that.

This is a great idea as long as the admissions test is one that cannot be prepared for.

But also, there's nothing about being Asian that disadvantages you in a holistic review process. It's not like admissions reviewers go "eww, this person is Asian, that's gross".

Good point. FCPS should be upfront and clear about the actual review process and be open to scrutiny on that if they want community buy-in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Scott Brabrand and the FCPS board would have been fired had they worked for Georgetown Law. They openly discriminated against one racial group.

Basically any change in policy that doesn't preserve or increase TJ's Asian population will be viewed as antiAsian. I am all for opening up TJ admissions so a broader group of students are given a opportunity to excel in STEM. I think a 3.5 with each middle school getting a certain number of slots is an excellent idea. Despite being a race neutral standard, of course it will change the racial composition of the school. I think it's great to encourage kids from all backgrounds to purse STEM careers. It can't be that FCPS can never decide to adjust TJ admissions standards in anyway that might affect the number of Asians. Given the current makeup of TJ, that's impossible outside of keeping a system that can be easily gamed by those with want to cheat, even if only a small number of people.

The middle school quota system is already being gamed this school year. Beyond easy during DL. Families have gotten a different address through various means (renting, buying investment property, address of friend). I hope that the TJ admissions staff verifies that the child is actually living at the address, but that will never happen. The child does not even have to be in Fairfax County, Virginia or the US to apply this year. They only need an address and a VPN to make it look like they are logging in from Fairfax County.

I'm going to bet that you have the facts and figures to back up this claim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Scott Brabrand and the FCPS board would have been fired had they worked for Georgetown Law. They openly discriminated against one racial group.

Basically any change in policy that doesn't preserve or increase TJ's Asian population will be viewed as antiAsian. I am all for opening up TJ admissions so a broader group of students are given a opportunity to excel in STEM. I think a 3.5 with each middle school getting a certain number of slots is an excellent idea. Despite being a race neutral standard, of course it will change the racial composition of the school. I think it's great to encourage kids from all backgrounds to purse STEM careers. It can't be that FCPS can never decide to adjust TJ admissions standards in anyway that might affect the number of Asians. Given the current makeup of TJ, that's impossible outside of keeping a system that can be easily gamed by those with want to cheat, even if only a small number of people.

Would you be in favor of having the students fill out an application that does not list their name, race or gender and have them take an admissions test and then have the top 1.5% of the scorers getting admitted to TJ? That would change the demographic makeup of the student body without having to set up the "holistic" review in a manner that disadvantages those who happen to be Asian. I could get behind something like that.

The problem with this proposal is that there is still a test involved. Taking off names is a good idea and then also eliminating the test. Tests are just too gameable and so don’t really give information on who has the best qualifications for the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Scott Brabrand and the FCPS board would have been fired had they worked for Georgetown Law. They openly discriminated against one racial group.

Basically any change in policy that doesn't preserve or increase TJ's Asian population will be viewed as antiAsian. I am all for opening up TJ admissions so a broader group of students are given a opportunity to excel in STEM. I think a 3.5 with each middle school getting a certain number of slots is an excellent idea. Despite being a race neutral standard, of course it will change the racial composition of the school. I think it's great to encourage kids from all backgrounds to purse STEM careers. It can't be that FCPS can never decide to adjust TJ admissions standards in anyway that might affect the number of Asians. Given the current makeup of TJ, that's impossible outside of keeping a system that can be easily gamed by those with want to cheat, even if only a small number of people.

Would you be in favor of having the students fill out an application that does not list their name, race or gender and have them take an admissions test and then have the top 1.5% of the scorers getting admitted to TJ? That would change the demographic makeup of the student body without having to set up the "holistic" review in a manner that disadvantages those who happen to be Asian. I could get behind something like that.

I would be fine with the no name, race or gender. I don't think the school should be limited to the top 1.5 percent of test scorers. I think many kids can excel in STEM without being in the top 1.5 percent and I think those kids' love of STEM should also be given an opportunity to flourish. I think the 3.5 GPA in core classes benchmark is sufficient.

So we are back to the merit lottery?

I think merit lottery is a great idea. I haven't followed this closely enough to know why that was deemed unacceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Pacific Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit against Brabrand and the School Board today in federal district court on behalf of a primarily Asian advocacy group alleging the changes to the TJ admissions process were racially motivated and violate the Equal Protection Clause.

https://pacificlegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Coalition-for-TJ-v.-Fairfax-County-School-Board.pdf

This one will require more resources to defend than the one filed in local court. Why is Brabrand subjecting FCPS to such litigation risk over and over again? He got hired saying "the main thing was the main thing." People naively thought he meant academics; instead, it's turned out to be "equity" initiatives that invite judicial challenges.

This, like the other lawsuits, is going absolutely nowhere. The families of the eighth graders are not going to get their injunctive relief - it was already denied in another case - and once the die is cast in the admissions process and students are admitted, they will almost certainly remove their names from the lawsuit. (By the way, several of the litigants are almost certain to gain admission.)

FCPS is many things, but one thing they're not is willing to put themselves at risk of litigation. The entire reason this process took so long was because Brabrand was ironing out any possibility of legal challenge. By far the most effective department in FCPS is Legal, and it has to be because of nonsense like this.

I'd like to ask this question: Why is admission to TJ so important to these communities?

I can't speak fully for the local Asian-American community, but I believe they feel they are discriminated against in many aspects of American society and that STEM has been an area where, if their children receive a strong educational foundation, they will be able to compete on a level playing field and succeed professionally as adults. From their perspective, the admissions process that has been in place for years was fair and largely objective, and they believe it is anti-Asian sentiment that led a White Superintendent and a majority-White School Board to label TJ, with its majority Asian population, "toxic" and effect changes that clearly would have the effect of reducing, and likely were designed to reduce, the number and percentage of Asian students at the school.

Obviously, some think the community is "over-invested" in TJ, but if that's your view you should also ask why admission to TJ was so important to other communities that they demanded a change in the process.

I have to agree with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Pacific Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit against Brabrand and the School Board today in federal district court on behalf of a primarily Asian advocacy group alleging the changes to the TJ admissions process were racially motivated and violate the Equal Protection Clause.

https://pacificlegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Coalition-for-TJ-v.-Fairfax-County-School-Board.pdf

This one will require more resources to defend than the one filed in local court. Why is Brabrand subjecting FCPS to such litigation risk over and over again? He got hired saying "the main thing was the main thing." People naively thought he meant academics; instead, it's turned out to be "equity" initiatives that invite judicial challenges.

This, like the other lawsuits, is going absolutely nowhere. The families of the eighth graders are not going to get their injunctive relief - it was already denied in another case - and once the die is cast in the admissions process and students are admitted, they will almost certainly remove their names from the lawsuit. (By the way, several of the litigants are almost certain to gain admission.)

FCPS is many things, but one thing they're not is willing to put themselves at risk of litigation. The entire reason this process took so long was because Brabrand was ironing out any possibility of legal challenge. By far the most effective department in FCPS is Legal, and it has to be because of nonsense like this.

I'd like to ask this question: Why is admission to TJ so important to these communities?

I can't speak fully for the local Asian-American community, but I believe they feel they are discriminated against in many aspects of American society and that STEM has been an area where, if their children receive a strong educational foundation, they will be able to compete on a level playing field and succeed professionally as adults. From their perspective, the admissions process that has been in place for years was fair and largely objective, and they believe it is anti-Asian sentiment that led a White Superintendent and a majority-White School Board to label TJ, with its majority Asian population, "toxic" and effect changes that clearly would have the effect of reducing, and likely were designed to reduce, the number and percentage of Asian students at the school.

Obviously, some think the community is "over-invested" in TJ, but if that's your view you should also ask why admission to TJ was so important to other communities that they demanded a change in the process.

I have to agree with this.

Other communities demanded a change in the process because every community sees the importance of STEM and access to the excellent STEM education/facilities provided by TJ was dependent on a test that many thought was being gamed by those in the know and with the financial resources to circumvent the test security. Note the new admissions standards don't have any quotas based on race and remove the issues surrounding the test. Also, getting rid of the test levels the playing field for some Asian kids whose parents don't have the resources to game the system, so don't assume this is bad for all Asians. I don't know who will prevail in this lawsuit, but I hope at the end of it, whatever system is left standing doesn't disadvantage lower SES students whose parents don't have the financial resources to pay for outside prep, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Scott Brabrand and the FCPS board would have been fired had they worked for Georgetown Law. They openly discriminated against one racial group.

Basically any change in policy that doesn't preserve or increase TJ's Asian population will be viewed as antiAsian. I am all for opening up TJ admissions so a broader group of students are given a opportunity to excel in STEM. I think a 3.5 with each middle school getting a certain number of slots is an excellent idea. Despite being a race neutral standard, of course it will change the racial composition of the school. I think it's great to encourage kids from all backgrounds to purse STEM careers. It can't be that FCPS can never decide to adjust TJ admissions standards in anyway that might affect the number of Asians. Given the current makeup of TJ, that's impossible outside of keeping a system that can be easily gamed by those with want to cheat, even if only a small number of people.

Would you be in favor of having the students fill out an application that does not list their name, race or gender and have them take an admissions test and then have the top 1.5% of the scorers getting admitted to TJ? That would change the demographic makeup of the student body without having to set up the "holistic" review in a manner that disadvantages those who happen to be Asian. I could get behind something like that.

This is a great idea as long as the admissions test is one that cannot be prepared for.

But also, there's nothing about being Asian that disadvantages you in a holistic review process. It's not like admissions reviewers go "eww, this person is Asian, that's gross".

Precisely. The removal of a pre-existing systemic advantage (testing that favors years of prep and application fees that discourage folks from coming into the process late, supported by a community obsession with TJ and its prestige) is not equivalent to the introduction of a disadvantage.

TJ's artificially inflated rankings will fall because it will no longer be self-selecting for students who are excellent test-takers. But the quality of its learning community will rise sharply and quickly by weeding out many of the one-dimensional students of ALL races that are destroying it right now.

Serious question does the TJ test predict performance during the first year of school?

SAT, GRE, LSATs seem too, but does FCPS see similar results?

[Anonymous]

Which district court will take this case? What are the chances this case go to the supreme court?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Scott Brabrand and the FCPS board would have been fired had they worked for Georgetown Law. They openly discriminated against one racial group.

Basically any change in policy that doesn't preserve or increase TJ's Asian population will be viewed as antiAsian. I am all for opening up TJ admissions so a broader group of students are given a opportunity to excel in STEM. I think a 3.5 with each middle school getting a certain number of slots is an excellent idea. Despite being a race neutral standard, of course it will change the racial composition of the school. I think it's great to encourage kids from all backgrounds to purse STEM careers. It can't be that FCPS can never decide to adjust TJ admissions standards in anyway that might affect the number of Asians. Given the current makeup of TJ, that's impossible outside of keeping a system that can be easily gamed by those with want to cheat, even if only a small number of people.

Would you be in favor of having the students fill out an application that does not list their name, race or gender and have them take an admissions test and then have the top 1.5% of the scorers getting admitted to TJ? That would change the demographic makeup of the student body without having to set up the "holistic" review in a manner that disadvantages those who happen to be Asian. I could get behind something like that.

This is a great idea as long as the admissions test is one that cannot be prepared for.

But also, there's nothing about being Asian that disadvantages you in a holistic review process. It's not like admissions reviewers go "eww, this person is Asian, that's gross".

Precisely. The removal of a pre-existing systemic advantage (testing that favors years of prep and application fees that discourage folks from coming into the process late, supported by a community obsession with TJ and its prestige) is not equivalent to the introduction of a disadvantage.

TJ's artificially inflated rankings will fall because it will no longer be self-selecting for students who are excellent test-takers. But the quality of its learning community will rise sharply and quickly by weeding out many of the one-dimensional students of ALL races that are destroying it right now.

Authoritative statement by someone who has clearly no experience with TJ. The casual way people repeat stereotypes and lies about TJ’s students is so disheartening. The fact that most students are Asian Americans makes the statements racist.

[Anonymous]

One-dimensional? Ever attend a TJ play or concert or iNite or techstravagana? These kids are amazing with many interests and talents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Scott Brabrand and the FCPS board would have been fired had they worked for Georgetown Law. They openly discriminated against one racial group.

Basically any change in policy that doesn't preserve or increase TJ's Asian population will be viewed as antiAsian. I am all for opening up TJ admissions so a broader group of students are given a opportunity to excel in STEM. I think a 3.5 with each middle school getting a certain number of slots is an excellent idea. Despite being a race neutral standard, of course it will change the racial composition of the school. I think it's great to encourage kids from all backgrounds to purse STEM careers. It can't be that FCPS can never decide to adjust TJ admissions standards in anyway that might affect the number of Asians. Given the current makeup of TJ, that's impossible outside of keeping a system that can be easily gamed by those with want to cheat, even if only a small number of people.

Would you be in favor of having the students fill out an application that does not list their name, race or gender and have them take an admissions test and then have the top 1.5% of the scorers getting admitted to TJ? That would change the demographic makeup of the student body without having to set up the "holistic" review in a manner that disadvantages those who happen to be Asian. I could get behind something like that.

This is a great idea as long as the admissions test is one that cannot be prepared for.

But also, there's nothing about being Asian that disadvantages you in a holistic review process. It's not like admissions reviewers go "eww, this person is Asian, that's gross".

Precisely. The removal of a pre-existing systemic advantage (testing that favors years of prep and application fees that discourage folks from coming into the process late, supported by a community obsession with TJ and its prestige) is not equivalent to the introduction of a disadvantage.

TJ's artificially inflated rankings will fall because it will no longer be self-selecting for students who are excellent test-takers. But the quality of its learning community will rise sharply and quickly by weeding out many of the one-dimensional students of ALL races that are destroying it right now.

Serious question does the TJ test predict performance during the first year of school?

SAT, GRE, LSATs seem too, but does FCPS see similar results?

Since the test is primarily math, those who do best on the test are primarily those who have had the highest quality and quantity of math prep. Obviously studying and practicing for any math test will improve your score. A higher score does not necessarily mean higher intelligence or more qualified, but is probably very

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Scott Brabrand and the FCPS board would have been fired had they worked for Georgetown Law. They openly discriminated against one racial group.

Basically any change in policy that doesn't preserve or increase TJ's Asian population will be viewed as antiAsian. I am all for opening up TJ admissions so a broader group of students are given a opportunity to excel in STEM. I think a 3.5 with each middle school getting a certain number of slots is an excellent idea. Despite being a race neutral standard, of course it will change the racial composition of the school. I think it's great to encourage kids from all backgrounds to purse STEM careers. It can't be that FCPS can never decide to adjust TJ admissions standards in anyway that might affect the number of Asians. Given the current makeup of TJ, that's impossible outside of keeping a system that can be easily gamed by those with want to cheat, even if only a small number of people.

Would you be in favor of having the students fill out an application that does not list their name, race or gender and have them take an admissions test and then have the top 1.5% of the scorers getting admitted to TJ? That would change the demographic makeup of the student body without having to set up the "holistic" review in a manner that disadvantages those who happen to be Asian. I could get behind something like that.

This is a great idea as long as the admissions test is one that cannot be prepared for.

But also, there's nothing about being Asian that disadvantages you in a holistic review process. It's not like admissions reviewers go "eww, this person is Asian, that's gross".

Precisely. The removal of a pre-existing systemic advantage (testing that favors years of prep and application fees that discourage folks from coming into the process late, supported by a community obsession with TJ and its prestige) is not equivalent to the introduction of a disadvantage.

TJ's artificially inflated rankings will fall because it will no longer be self-selecting for students who are excellent test-takers. But the quality of its learning community will rise sharply and quickly by weeding out many of the one-dimensional students of ALL races that are destroying it right now.

Serious question does the TJ test predict performance during the first year of school?

SAT, GRE, LSATs seem too, but does FCPS see similar results?

Since the test is primarily math, those who do best on the test are primarily those who have had the highest quality and quantity of math prep. Obviously studying and practicing for any math test will improve your score. A higher score does not necessarily mean higher intelligence or more qualified, but is probably very bluntly correlated, like the SAT.

[Anonymous]

And plenty of tj students (even Asian American ones!!) did not need to prep foe that test because it wasn’t hard for kids who really love STEM and are strong students.