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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]^ by environment, I primarily mean an extensive network of support for low-income families 
[/quote]

What extensive network does NYC have?

The problem with FCPS providing support for per kids is that they are trying to achieve equal results not equal ability.  And besides, they don't really care about income, just skin color.

They could have artificially achieved income diversity by explicitly preferencing income (which they did), they didn't have to get rid of the test for that.  But they could not explicitly preference race and so they got rid of the test because objective testing is an obstacle to racial diversity.  [/quote]

They got rid of the test because wealthy people were getting an additional unfair advantage by prepping.

They had already changed the test to prevent this multiple times. But test prep companies continued to “crack” the test. 
[/quote]

That's silly.  We were there, we saw the board taking about racial diversity throughout the entire process.  The backdrop of BLM let them push it through but it was all about race.   You know it.  I know it.  Everyone knows it.  If wealth determined how well you did on these tests why would Stuyvesant be 50% farm?  How did TJ go from majority white to majority Asian?  [/quote]

Is this a serious question? Because the answer is wealthy Indian families concentrated in Loudoun and western Fairfax. They’re by FAR the wealthiest demographic in Northern Virginia.[/quote]

GTFOH.

Of the 500 wealthiest family's in northern Virginia, they are overwhelmingly white.  There may be a concentration of affluent Indian families in Loudon but they are not the wealthiest people in Fairfax.  Not even close.

And even if they were, of the 500 spots at TJ under the old system, Loudon county got ~70 spots.  The soft in demographics at TJ is because Asians showed up.  That is what is causing the distribution that people want to counter.

There wasn't any political will to do anything when TJ was overwhelmingly white, that just seemed natural.  Things didn't seem off until Asians started to crowd out white kids.  [/quote]

[b][color=blue]FALSE. The community has been concerned about test prep for decades…[/color] [/b]

[b]2001: [/b]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2001/12/01/outsmarting-the-competition-into-thomas-jefferson-high/3f547eb4-a62d-439e-adbb-c409403deea6/

[i]“attended a private learning center in Burke for test practice and admissions counseling -- even advice on elementary school extracurricular activities. “

"Families go through incredible behavior just to try to get their kids into Jefferson by moving into a particular area or renting a town house near Longfellow [Middle School] or others that they think will give them an edge."

[b]“The frenzy highlights a current districtwide controversy about the admission process. Domenech wants to increase the number of students attending Jefferson from less affluent areas of the county”[/b]

For the first time, applicants who registered to take the test this year were given a 16-page booklet with test-taking strategies and sample questions.

"We knew that kids were getting help," said admissions coordinator Christel G. Payne, "and [b]it just wasn't fair that a great deal knew what they were facing when they went in on Saturday morning[/b] and others would go in cold with no idea what they would be looking at."

MCPS: “Eileen Steinkraus, the magnet coordinator, said applicants used to take the Preliminary SAT, but [b]so many students studied for the test that they abolished it four years ago and had a testing service develop a test for them[/b].” [/i]

[/quote]

Pfft.

I'm sure there were a lot of concerns.  But, just like there were a lot of reasons for the civil war but really one reason, the primary driver of the admissions change was racial diversity.  Nobody that was around 5 years ago would have said test prep was driving the change more than racial concerns[/quote]

The answer to test prep is more transparency and access not hiding the ball or getting rid of the score sheet.  There is a ton of prep available for the PSAT and a ton of test prep available for the SHSAT.

The problem is that you still end up with the same Asian problem. If only there was some way to get the Asians to study less, we wouldn't have any of these issues.  [/quote]

There wasn't an "Asian problem". There was a lack of anyone except wealthy white & Asian students coming from feeder schools.

They added seats to give kids across the county a chance, with the hope that the diversity might increase. It wasn't about reducing Asian students (an intentionally divisive RWNJ talking point trying to spin up votes in an election year), it was about adding others. It wasn't a zero-sum game.

[/quote]

There weren't that many white kids.  There are more white kids under the new admissions process.  The white population increased more than black or Hispanic population and the Asian population declined as we all know.  [/quote]

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