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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A big start at fixing the issues with TJ admissions would be fixing the mbalance in the resources at the MS level, when kids apply. My TJ kid went through Carson, and there was TSA, TARC, Debate, We the People, OOTM, MathCounts, Private FLL teams etc., etc— all of which are competitive at the same and national level, all of which are free or low cost. Doing one or more of these gives kids something to put on their SIS,  which may more important than the test in terms of admissions.  A lot of MSs, even AAP Centers, do not offer some or all of these school based activities.

Carson teachers also get training on filling o it the TJ teacher recommendations, which apparently look for very specific things.  Most schools do not do this.

Improving opportunities at the MS feeders who send fewer kids— starting with extracurriculars and teacher training— makes more kids competitive for TJ, and helps talented kids with lower SES get in.  The point of one Fairfax should not be to dismantle TJ— and then AAP—  is also unequal.  That’s lowering the bar.  It should be to make TJ and AAP equally available to any talented kid, and raise the bar at the feeders that currently have few kids admitted.

And BTW— TJ is a lot “fairer” than McLean or Langley.  TJ admission is merit based.  To get an education at the best base schools in the county, with the best results, your parent has to be able to afford the million dollar home.  If you want to dismantle TJ, you should also be pushing for countywide rezoning to get the same number of FARMs kids in each school, and aim for Mt. Vernon and Langley to have the same average SATs.  Anyone up for that?[/quote]

I agree with this... it makes a lot of sense.
Keep the top being the best-of-the-best.

A lot of the other posters suggestions would dilute that (i.e. forced geographic diversification, forced racial diversification).
But that misses the point of TJ... to get the very best STEM talent regardless of other factors (geography/race/gender).  Lowering the bar here
You need to fix this at the lower layers... the MS feeders... and the elementaries.  Get the under-represented kids more into STEM from the beginning.

Its going to be the same argument if you open any type of top-tier competition.
South Asians now dominate the spelling bees.  Should we limit how many Indians are allowed to apply?
If you have a magnet school for top musicians, someone will complain that its not fair that wealthier people can afford more music lessons.

The answer is not to dumb down the top, but to bring more people up to qualify.

[/quote]

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