Reply to Reflections on the "TJ Papers"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Perhaps by now many have read the "TJ Papers" - a collection of materials obtained from FCPS during discovery in the civil litigation by the plaintiffs challenging the changes to the TJ admissions process.  Many are available at https://defendinged.org/incidents/tjpapers/

Some take-aways:

1.  The three main forces behind the TJ admissions change were Scott Brabrand (Superintendent), Karen Corbett Sanders (School Board member from Mount Vernon District), and Scott Surovell (member of Virginia Senate from the 36th District, which includes the Mount Vernon area).

2.  Brabrand was in major "white savior" mode, as if his legacy depending on his personally pushing through radical changes in the TJ admissions process.  At various times, Brabrand's interactions with staff indicated that his goal was simply to adjust the process, by whatever means necessary, to guarantee the admission of more Black and Hispanic students to TJ, regardless of whether they were otherwise the most qualified candidates.

3.  Corbett-Sanders and Surovell have no guiding principles; they are just retail pork-barrel politicians who seized upon the moment to grab more TJ seats for students in their own part of the county.

4.  Brabrand misled School Board members about the possibility that the VDOE might come down hard on FCPS if they didn't make major changes to TJ admissions, whereas over time it emerged that VDOE did not necessarily expect FCPS's "diversity plan" (which FCPS was required to submit by October 2020) to include changes to the TJ admissions process by 2021.

5.  The process was rushed, incoherent, and marked by School Board members sniping at each other and at Brabrand.  Sizemore-Heizer complained that Keys Gamarra was calling other School Board members racist.  Pekarsky and Omeish referred to Frisch as a liar.  Omeish referred to Brabrand as "too dumb and too white."  Pekarsky and Omeish openly acknowledged that the changes under consideration were "anti-asian." McLaughlin told a constituent that Brabrand's handling of the admissions changes was the worst process she had encountered in her many years as a School Board member.  Cohen and other School Board members admitted after the fact that they hadn't paid attention as to whether the middle school admissions quotas would be based on a student's "base school" or "attending school," even though this had major implications on 8th grade students attending AAP centers.  And so on.

6.  The two School Board members representing the districts with the most TJ students - Pekarsky and Tholen - had reservations but patted themselves on the back for effecting a "compromise" (i.e., rejecting Brabrand's initial "lottery" proposal in favor of a "holistic" approach that might lead to a higher number of Sully and Dranesville kids continuing to get into TJ), but never seriously grappled with (a) whether they should have opposed any changes as a matter of principle or (b) whether the change they ultimately supported would end up chewing up even more of FCPS's time and resources, to the detriment of FCPS's ability to address challenges at other schools.  Ultimately, they were swept along with the tide for fear of being criticized by their colleagues.

7.  Many of the most embarrassing exchanges between School Board members were reflected in text messages produced during discovery in the civil litigation.  This suggests that (a) School Board members often text each other to avoid using their FCPS email accounts to conduct official School Board business; and/or (2) no one in FCPS's legal department ever cautioned these folks that text messages are just as discoverable in civil litigation as emails.

No one who objectively reads these materials can conclude this School Board is competent, principled, or deserving of another term in office.  They embarrass not only themselves, but also everyone in the county who wants Fairfax County to stand for good governance.  If they had any dignity, they would resign now, but in any event they should step aside and let others replace them in 2023.  [/quote]

Great summary.  Thank you.  They all need to go.  This SB was elected because the Fairfax Dems wanted to push a social justice agenda through the schools.  Enough.  No one wants that to be the focus of public education. They all need to resign and the FCDC needs some new leaders.  Those at the helm obviously can't pick good candidates to support. [/quote]

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