DOJ civil rights probe into TJ admissions policies

[Anonymous]

Just more welfare programs. No biggie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/doj-thomas-jefferson-high-school-fairfax

How does this impact next year's admissions process? Should students prepare for just the essay or will they be tested in middle school math, science and English?

Maybe they could get rid of experience factors and go back to an objective test. Keeping the 1.5% seat allocation will ensure that every middle school has representation at the school every jurisdiction funds with taxes.

But bottom half of fcps schools dont have enough applicants to fill even the 1.5% seat allocation, making it difficult to get to the desired diversity chart. Experience factors and non-academic criteria like essays help get to the predetermined ethnicity mix, whether it is stem qualified or not.

True.

Experience factors =

1) Economic Disadvantage: free or reduced-price lunch (FARMs)

2) English as a Second Language (ESL): enrolled in school programs designed for non-native English speakers, and

3) Special Education Needs: Students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or Section 504 plans.

Experience factors account for 40% of the TJ admission standard total.

TJ admit 12% students with experience factors and they also add 10% seat for that. I don’t care about what kind of ethnicity they are.
Thanks God that admission are thinking about the forgotten group of students.

Ironically, the merit qualified FARMs are not guaranteed to receive an offer, as there is no STEM evaluation. The ridiculous essay is a cover to pick random FARMs students based on ethnicity, and not the hardworking and qualified. So that is why the DOJ civil rights probe?

I'll give you one guess about which ethnicities tend to have the most merit at these schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/doj-thomas-jefferson-high-school-fairfax

How does this impact next year's admissions process? Should students prepare for just the essay or will they be tested in middle school math, science and English?

Maybe they could get rid of experience factors and go back to an objective test. Keeping the 1.5% seat allocation will ensure that every middle school has representation at the school every jurisdiction funds with taxes.

But bottom half of fcps schools dont have enough applicants to fill even the 1.5% seat allocation, making it difficult to get to the desired diversity chart. Experience factors and non-academic criteria like essays help get to the predetermined ethnicity mix, whether it is stem qualified or not.

True.

Experience factors =

1) Economic Disadvantage: free or reduced-price lunch (FARMs)

2) English as a Second Language (ESL): enrolled in school programs designed for non-native English speakers, and

3) Special Education Needs: Students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or Section 504 plans.

Experience factors account for 40% of the TJ admission standard total.

But they are all struggling at TJ with Cs & Ds, when they could thrive at their base school with As and Bs. Why are they being used as political props to satisfy a mere diversity chart?

Ugh, none of those factors, 1,2, or 3 qualifies a student for TJ, but what proof is there that they are struggling with C's & D's? And can NAACP really get traction if kids who aren't admitted have lesser scores on objective testing, even if it appears to be disparate impact if you only take race into account?

We don't know their grades other than anecdotally. But anecdotally, kids from some schools struggle more than others, especially in math.
We also know that the kids going back to their base school tend to be more prevalent at less academically rigorous schools

FCPS has basically given up on actually helping these kids teach their potential but also don't want to feel bad about having given up on these kids. So they try to get them into TJ where they will frequently fail and call it a day.

NAACP can't actually win a lawsuit but they can make woke white people feel bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/doj-thomas-jefferson-high-school-fairfax

How does this impact next year's admissions process? Should students prepare for just the essay or will they be tested in middle school math, science and English?

Maybe they could get rid of experience factors and go back to an objective test. Keeping the 1.5% seat allocation will ensure that every middle school has representation at the school every jurisdiction funds with taxes.

But bottom half of fcps schools dont have enough applicants to fill even the 1.5% seat allocation, making it difficult to get to the desired diversity chart. Experience factors and non-academic criteria like essays help get to the predetermined ethnicity mix, whether it is stem qualified or not.

True.

Experience factors =

1) Economic Disadvantage: free or reduced-price lunch (FARMs)

2) English as a Second Language (ESL): enrolled in school programs designed for non-native English speakers, and

3) Special Education Needs: Students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or Section 504 plans.

Experience factors account for 40% of the TJ admission standard total.

I’m slightly annoyed that I’ve seen people post that their child had an experience factor with a 504 plan. I called the TJ admissions office and specifically asked and was told that 504s don’t count, only IEPs. The admissions team must not be checking for IEPs and just trusting people who check the special education box.

Luckily my child still got in without having the bonus experience points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/doj-thomas-jefferson-high-school-fairfax

How does this impact next year's admissions process? Should students prepare for just the essay or will they be tested in middle school math, science and English?

Maybe they could get rid of experience factors and go back to an objective test. Keeping the 1.5% seat allocation will ensure that every middle school has representation at the school every jurisdiction funds with taxes.

But bottom half of fcps schools dont have enough applicants to fill even the 1.5% seat allocation, making it difficult to get to the desired diversity chart. Experience factors and non-academic criteria like essays help get to the predetermined ethnicity mix, whether it is stem qualified or not.

True.

Experience factors =

1) Economic Disadvantage: free or reduced-price lunch (FARMs)

2) English as a Second Language (ESL): enrolled in school programs designed for non-native English speakers, and

3) Special Education Needs: Students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or Section 504 plans.

Experience factors account for 40% of the TJ admission standard total.

But they are all struggling at TJ with Cs & Ds, when they could thrive at their base school with As and Bs. Why are they being used as political props to satisfy a mere diversity chart?

Ugh, none of those factors, 1,2, or 3 qualifies a student for TJ, but what proof is there that they are struggling with C's & D's? And can NAACP really get traction if kids who aren't admitted have lesser scores on objective testing, even if it appears to be disparate impact if you only take race into account?

We don't know their grades other than anecdotally. But anecdotally, kids from some schools struggle more than others, especially in math.
We also know that the kids going back to their base school tend to be more prevalent at less academically rigorous schools

FCPS has basically given up on actually helping these kids teach their potential but also don't want to feel bad about having given up on these kids. So they try to get them into TJ where they will frequently fail and call it a day.

NAACP can't actually win a lawsuit but they can make woke white people feel bad.

I see that back in the 2016-17 school year, well before the admissions changes, 25 TJ kids had left over the course of the school year through April. This year the number is 13.

It doesn't seem kids are bailing on TJ more than in the past. Maybe the curriculum has adjusted to accommodate less advanced students, but that's a different question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/doj-thomas-jefferson-high-school-fairfax

How does this impact next year's admissions process? Should students prepare for just the essay or will they be tested in middle school math, science and English?

Maybe they could get rid of experience factors and go back to an objective test. Keeping the 1.5% seat allocation will ensure that every middle school has representation at the school every jurisdiction funds with taxes.

But bottom half of fcps schools dont have enough applicants to fill even the 1.5% seat allocation, making it difficult to get to the desired diversity chart. Experience factors and non-academic criteria like essays help get to the predetermined ethnicity mix, whether it is stem qualified or not.

True.

Experience factors =

1) Economic Disadvantage: free or reduced-price lunch (FARMs)

2) English as a Second Language (ESL): enrolled in school programs designed for non-native English speakers, and

3) Special Education Needs: Students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or Section 504 plans.

Experience factors account for 40% of the TJ admission standard total.

But they are all struggling at TJ with Cs & Ds, when they could thrive at their base school with As and Bs. Why are they being used as political props to satisfy a mere diversity chart?

Ugh, none of those factors, 1,2, or 3 qualifies a student for TJ, but what proof is there that they are struggling with C's & D's? And can NAACP really get traction if kids who aren't admitted have lesser scores on objective testing, even if it appears to be disparate impact if you only take race into account?

We don't know their grades other than anecdotally. But anecdotally, kids from some schools struggle more than others, especially in math.
We also know that the kids going back to their base school tend to be more prevalent at less academically rigorous schools

FCPS has basically given up on actually helping these kids teach their potential but also don't want to feel bad about having given up on these kids. So they try to get them into TJ where they will frequently fail and call it a day.

NAACP can't actually win a lawsuit but they can make woke white people feel bad.

I see that back in the 2016-17 school year, well before the admissions changes, 25 TJ kids had left over the course of the school year through April. This year the number is 13.

It doesn't seem kids are bailing on TJ more than in the past. Maybe the curriculum has adjusted to accommodate less advanced students, but that's a different question.

Wasn’t last year 50 kids left from freshman class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/doj-thomas-jefferson-high-school-fairfax

How does this impact next year's admissions process? Should students prepare for just the essay or will they be tested in middle school math, science and English?

Maybe they could get rid of experience factors and go back to an objective test. Keeping the 1.5% seat allocation will ensure that every middle school has representation at the school every jurisdiction funds with taxes.

But bottom half of fcps schools dont have enough applicants to fill even the 1.5% seat allocation, making it difficult to get to the desired diversity chart. Experience factors and non-academic criteria like essays help get to the predetermined ethnicity mix, whether it is stem qualified or not.

True.

Experience factors =

1) Economic Disadvantage: free or reduced-price lunch (FARMs)

2) English as a Second Language (ESL): enrolled in school programs designed for non-native English speakers, and

3) Special Education Needs: Students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or Section 504 plans.

Experience factors account for 40% of the TJ admission standard total.

But they are all struggling at TJ with Cs & Ds, when they could thrive at their base school with As and Bs. Why are they being used as political props to satisfy a mere diversity chart?

Ugh, none of those factors, 1,2, or 3 qualifies a student for TJ, but what proof is there that they are struggling with C's & D's? And can NAACP really get traction if kids who aren't admitted have lesser scores on objective testing, even if it appears to be disparate impact if you only take race into account?

We don't know their grades other than anecdotally. But anecdotally, kids from some schools struggle more than others, especially in math.
We also know that the kids going back to their base school tend to be more prevalent at less academically rigorous schools

FCPS has basically given up on actually helping these kids teach their potential but also don't want to feel bad about having given up on these kids. So they try to get them into TJ where they will frequently fail and call it a day.

NAACP can't actually win a lawsuit but they can make woke white people feel bad.

I see that back in the 2016-17 school year, well before the admissions changes, 25 TJ kids had left over the course of the school year through April. This year the number is 13.

It doesn't seem kids are bailing on TJ more than in the past. Maybe the curriculum has adjusted to accommodate less advanced students, but that's a different question.

Wasn’t last year 50 kids left from freshman class?

significantly higher than that. In a scramble to backfill those vacancies, there’s aggressive outreach to top feeder base schools, urging students to apply as froshmores in 10th grade. Leaving those seats unfilled would draw criticism of the non-merit essay admission process. But entering TJ in 10th is a nightmare, without having the advantage of getting acclimated as freshman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/doj-thomas-jefferson-high-school-fairfax

How does this impact next year's admissions process? Should students prepare for just the essay or will they be tested in middle school math, science and English?

Maybe they could get rid of experience factors and go back to an objective test. Keeping the 1.5% seat allocation will ensure that every middle school has representation at the school every jurisdiction funds with taxes.

But bottom half of fcps schools dont have enough applicants to fill even the 1.5% seat allocation, making it difficult to get to the desired diversity chart. Experience factors and non-academic criteria like essays help get to the predetermined ethnicity mix, whether it is stem qualified or not.

True.

Experience factors =

1) Economic Disadvantage: free or reduced-price lunch (FARMs)

2) English as a Second Language (ESL): enrolled in school programs designed for non-native English speakers, and

3) Special Education Needs: Students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or Section 504 plans.

Experience factors account for 40% of the TJ admission standard total.

I’m slightly annoyed that I’ve seen people post that their child had an experience factor with a 504 plan. I called the TJ admissions office and specifically asked and was told that 504s don’t count, only IEPs. The admissions team must not be checking for IEPs and just trusting people who check the special education box.

Luckily my child still got in without having the bonus experience points.

Does TJ have profile of % 504 and IEP plans by grade? Is that public info?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/doj-thomas-jefferson-high-school-fairfax

How does this impact next year's admissions process? Should students prepare for just the essay or will they be tested in middle school math, science and English?

Maybe they could get rid of experience factors and go back to an objective test. Keeping the 1.5% seat allocation will ensure that every middle school has representation at the school every jurisdiction funds with taxes.

But bottom half of fcps schools dont have enough applicants to fill even the 1.5% seat allocation, making it difficult to get to the desired diversity chart. Experience factors and non-academic criteria like essays help get to the predetermined ethnicity mix, whether it is stem qualified or not.

True.

Experience factors =

1) Economic Disadvantage: free or reduced-price lunch (FARMs)

2) English as a Second Language (ESL): enrolled in school programs designed for non-native English speakers, and

3) Special Education Needs: Students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or Section 504 plans.

Experience factors account for 40% of the TJ admission standard total.

But they are all struggling at TJ with Cs & Ds, when they could thrive at their base school with As and Bs. Why are they being used as political props to satisfy a mere diversity chart?

Proof?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't think Trump cared about minorities...LOL wait until DOGE hears about this.

Unless their goal is to shutter TJ.

The only people eager to shutter TJ are the woke democrats running FCPS.

They also want to abolish the AAP program, just like their progressive counterparts in NYC and Seattle.

Whoever they are, I am thankful to them that TJ is now more accessible.

Yeah accessible to less qualified kids.

Proof?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/doj-thomas-jefferson-high-school-fairfax

How does this impact next year's admissions process? Should students prepare for just the essay or will they be tested in middle school math, science and English?

Maybe they could get rid of experience factors and go back to an objective test. Keeping the 1.5% seat allocation will ensure that every middle school has representation at the school every jurisdiction funds with taxes.

But bottom half of fcps schools dont have enough applicants to fill even the 1.5% seat allocation, making it difficult to get to the desired diversity chart. Experience factors and non-academic criteria like essays help get to the predetermined ethnicity mix, whether it is stem qualified or not.

True.

Experience factors =

1) Economic Disadvantage: free or reduced-price lunch (FARMs)

2) English as a Second Language (ESL): enrolled in school programs designed for non-native English speakers, and

3) Special Education Needs: Students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or Section 504 plans.

Experience factors account for 40% of the TJ admission standard total.

TJ admit 12% students with experience factors and they also add 10% seat for that. I don’t care about what kind of ethnicity they are.
Thanks God that admission are thinking about the forgotten group of students.

You're not doing them any favors to put them someplace they cannot succeed.

Proof?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/doj-thomas-jefferson-high-school-fairfax

How does this impact next year's admissions process? Should students prepare for just the essay or will they be tested in middle school math, science and English?

Maybe they could get rid of experience factors and go back to an objective test. Keeping the 1.5% seat allocation will ensure that every middle school has representation at the school every jurisdiction funds with taxes.

But bottom half of fcps schools dont have enough applicants to fill even the 1.5% seat allocation, making it difficult to get to the desired diversity chart. Experience factors and non-academic criteria like essays help get to the predetermined ethnicity mix, whether it is stem qualified or not.

True.

Experience factors =

1) Economic Disadvantage: free or reduced-price lunch (FARMs)

2) English as a Second Language (ESL): enrolled in school programs designed for non-native English speakers, and

3) Special Education Needs: Students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or Section 504 plans.

Experience factors account for 40% of the TJ admission standard total.

But they are all struggling at TJ with Cs & Ds, when they could thrive at their base school with As and Bs. Why are they being used as political props to satisfy a mere diversity chart?

Ugh, none of those factors, 1,2, or 3 qualifies a student for TJ, but what proof is there that they are struggling with C's & D's? And can NAACP really get traction if kids who aren't admitted have lesser scores on objective testing, even if it appears to be disparate impact if you only take race into account?

We don't know their grades other than anecdotally. But anecdotally, kids from some schools struggle more than others, especially in math.
We also know that the kids going back to their base school tend to be more prevalent at less academically rigorous schools

FCPS has basically given up on actually helping these kids teach their potential but also don't want to feel bad about having given up on these kids. So they try to get them into TJ where they will frequently fail and call it a day.

NAACP can't actually win a lawsuit but they can make woke white people feel bad.

I see that back in the 2016-17 school year, well before the admissions changes, 25 TJ kids had left over the course of the school year through April. This year the number is 13.

It doesn't seem kids are bailing on TJ more than in the past. Maybe the curriculum has adjusted to accommodate less advanced students, but that's a different question.

Wasn’t last year 50 kids left from freshman class?

significantly higher than that. In a scramble to backfill those vacancies, there’s aggressive outreach to top feeder base schools, urging students to apply as froshmores in 10th grade. Leaving those seats unfilled would draw criticism of the non-merit essay admission process. But entering TJ in 10th is a nightmare, without having the advantage of getting acclimated as freshman.

Proof?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/doj-thomas-jefferson-high-school-fairfax

How does this impact next year's admissions process? Should students prepare for just the essay or will they be tested in middle school math, science and English?

Maybe they could get rid of experience factors and go back to an objective test. Keeping the 1.5% seat allocation will ensure that every middle school has representation at the school every jurisdiction funds with taxes.

But bottom half of fcps schools dont have enough applicants to fill even the 1.5% seat allocation, making it difficult to get to the desired diversity chart. Experience factors and non-academic criteria like essays help get to the predetermined ethnicity mix, whether it is stem qualified or not.

True.

Experience factors =

1) Economic Disadvantage: free or reduced-price lunch (FARMs)

2) English as a Second Language (ESL): enrolled in school programs designed for non-native English speakers, and

3) Special Education Needs: Students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or Section 504 plans.

Experience factors account for 40% of the TJ admission standard total.

TJ admit 12% students with experience factors and they also add 10% seat for that. I don’t care about what kind of ethnicity they are.
Thanks God that admission are thinking about the forgotten group of students.

Ironically, the merit qualified FARMs are not guaranteed to receive an offer, as there is no STEM evaluation. The ridiculous essay is a cover to pick random FARMs students based on ethnicity, and not the hardworking and qualified. So that is why the DOJ civil rights probe?

Proof?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TJ was great for decades. It is still great. What has changed is the political climate because of right wing media and the constant use of children in culture wars- gay rights bans, transgender bathroom/sports bans, book bans, ban on teaching African American history, TJ admissions process challenges, public school funding reductions, etc etc. A certain party is trying to dismantle not only TJ but public education in general. But most parents are too stupid and too busy fighting among and forgetting the bigger picture.

This is the exact opposite of the truth.

The democrats are the party pushing culture wars. Boys allowed in girls’ school bathrooms? - Obama. 87 genders and mandatory pronouns? Democrats did that, not the republicans. “Include” violent, chair-throwing kids in every class instead of suspension, expulsion, or separate schools? Obama’s DEI did that. Discourage or ban suspensions for school violence? That was Obama’s “Dear Colleagues” letter in 2014, and the policies which followed. Whole-language and Lucy Calkins replacing phonics? Democrats again. VMPI? Democrats. Abolishing gifted and talented in NYC and Seattle? Democrats.

All of these withering blows to public education come from democrats; not republicans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ was great for decades. It is still great. What has changed is the political climate because of right wing media and the constant use of children in culture wars- gay rights bans, transgender bathroom/sports bans, book bans, ban on teaching African American history, TJ admissions process challenges, public school funding reductions, etc etc. A certain party is trying to dismantle not only TJ but public education in general. But most parents are too stupid and too busy fighting among and forgetting the bigger picture.

This is the exact opposite of the truth.

The democrats are the party pushing culture wars. Boys allowed in girls’ school bathrooms? - Obama. 87 genders and mandatory pronouns? Democrats did that, not the republicans. “Include” violent, chair-throwing kids in every class instead of suspension, expulsion, or separate schools? Obama’s DEI did that. Discourage or ban suspensions for school violence? That was Obama’s “Dear Colleagues” letter in 2014, and the policies which followed. Whole-language and Lucy Calkins replacing phonics? Democrats again. VMPI? Democrats. Abolishing gifted and talented in NYC and Seattle? Democrats.

All of these withering blows to public education come from democrats; not republicans.

DP here.

You basically proved the point the PP made.

The polarization of what should be non-issues is exactly why TJ is a fixation for people like you. Why the GOP keeps going at it because it riles you up. It fills you with indignant righteousness that you feel you need to stand up for.

You just listed a bunch of “it’s the democrats fault” immediately instead of giving a nuanced response. Think about that for a moment. Digest why you are so angry.

If you are upset your kid didn’t get into TJ- sure, you are right to be upset. But is your kid happy now? Are they going to a good college? If this has nothing to do with your kid…. Then really digest why you are upset. Why you are so quick to retaliate against any criticism against the GOP.

Is it productive? Because as a person reading your comments- it seems really sad.

And btw- there as Asians from feeder schools getting Cs in classes too. Don’t assume that the kids getting in from feeders aren’t struggling. TJ challenges all of the kids.