Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ doesn't provide a real world, diverse education.

This is so silly. My TJ kid is coming out with a strong basis is science research, yes. But also an understanding of basic electronics, a certification in welding, the ability to CAD and 3rd print anything, basic computer programming, an incredibly strong grounding in writing and analysis. Shockingly strong history. 4 years of music. A zillion group projects and grades with an assigned lab partner that forced him to learn to collaborate with all different types of kids. What exactly do you think is missing?

It’s not diverse racially, socio-economically, socially and I’d argue intellectually.

Probably so. But so what? I'd say the same of a few of the FCPS schools - Langley, McLean, Madison, etc as well as the District of Columbia schools.. Look TJ is here to stay. Like it or not. People can yap all they want but no idiot is going to shut down or dilute the #1 (or close in most years) school in the country in the name of soclal justice. If parents want to allow their kids to attend, that's their call. If the parents that do want their kids to attend and the kids that do attend belong to one or a couple of ethnicities, so be it. What's wrong with that? None of the pseudo liberals anywhere in this state can do much about it, certainly not by whining anonymously on DCUM.. I bet you wouldn't be complaining if it was a majority white school..Make peace with it and move on. HS is just a short stop in the long road of life..

First, you're wrong about the diversity at Langley, McLean and Madison compared to TJ. All three are more diverse than TJ, and McLean has considerably more racial diversity than TJ while Madison has considerably more economic diversity.

Second, FCPS decides to renew TJ's status annually as a Governor's School, and the current School Board has real issues with TJ's demographics and the message that the near-total exclusion of black and Hispanic students from TJ sends about FCPS's commitment to equity and opportunity. TJ's two biggest supporters on the School Board in the past - Moon and Strauss - are no longer members. TJ's insurance policy is that it would be a huge logistical challenge to redraw the boundaries if the TJ kids were sent back to their base schools. Three of the four pyramids that send the most kids to TJ - McLean, Oakton and Chantlly - are overcrowded, so moving 160 kids back to each of those schools would only aggravate a bad situation. On the other hand, on a system-wide basis FCPS could fix some of its overcrowding issues if TJ's enrollment was not capped at @ 1800 kids and 30% of the students didn't come from outside the county.

Third, when TJ was majority white, so too was the county and the FCPS population. That is very different dynamic than a 70-75% Asian school in a school system with a 15-20% Asian enrollment.

People are sick of the TJ lobby telling everyone else to shut up. TJ was created as a marketing tool by a majority Republican Board of Supervisors in the 1980s to attract the East Coast outposts of defense contractors based in California to suburban office parks. We have an absolute right to ask whether its continued existence as a selective magnet is a net benefit to FCPS.

PP here. Not disagreeing with any of your points but don't think TJ will change just because the board, etc are filled with democrats. And my point about no one will complain if it was majority white still stands. Democratic whites will want to change this for the right reasons. Republican whites will want to change this (if they get behind it) out of jealousy. Personally, my DC 1 will be done with TJ next year (great experience BTW), DC2 is not interested, so don't really care what happens after that. However, it would be a great loss of prestige to this area if TJ becomes another watered down school ranking in the 100s.

One of the standard arguments from the TJ crowd is that it's jealous whites who want to shut down TJ as a magnet and that they'd have no problem if the school was 70% white vs. 70% Asian.

This ignores the fact that the NAACP has filed the complaints about AAP policies and TJ submitted with the Department of Education. And if you look at who has taken the lead in challenging the admissions practices at NYC's selective magnet schools, it's a Hispanic school chancellor.

The local Asians are just as eager to protect their privileges as whites in Fairfax County have ever been.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ doesn't provide a real world, diverse education.

This is so silly. My TJ kid is coming out with a strong basis is science research, yes. But also an understanding of basic electronics, a certification in welding, the ability to CAD and 3rd print anything, basic computer programming, an incredibly strong grounding in writing and analysis. Shockingly strong history. 4 years of music. A zillion group projects and grades with an assigned lab partner that forced him to learn to collaborate with all different types of kids. What exactly do you think is missing?

It’s not diverse racially, socio-economically, socially and I’d argue intellectually.

Probably so. But so what? I'd say the same of a few of the FCPS schools - Langley, McLean, Madison, etc as well as the District of Columbia schools.. Look TJ is here to stay. Like it or not. People can yap all they want but no idiot is going to shut down or dilute the #1 (or close in most years) school in the country in the name of soclal justice. If parents want to allow their kids to attend, that's their call. If the parents that do want their kids to attend and the kids that do attend belong to one or a couple of ethnicities, so be it. What's wrong with that? None of the pseudo liberals anywhere in this state can do much about it, certainly not by whining anonymously on DCUM.. I bet you wouldn't be complaining if it was a majority white school..Make peace with it and move on. HS is just a short stop in the long road of life..

First, you're wrong about the diversity at Langley, McLean and Madison compared to TJ. All three are more diverse than TJ, and McLean has considerably more racial diversity than TJ while Madison has considerably more economic diversity.

Second, FCPS decides to renew TJ's status annually as a Governor's School, and the current School Board has real issues with TJ's demographics and the message that the near-total exclusion of black and Hispanic students from TJ sends about FCPS's commitment to equity and opportunity. TJ's two biggest supporters on the School Board in the past - Moon and Strauss - are no longer members. TJ's insurance policy is that it would be a huge logistical challenge to redraw the boundaries if the TJ kids were sent back to their base schools. Three of the four pyramids that send the most kids to TJ - McLean, Oakton and Chantlly - are overcrowded, so moving 160 kids back to each of those schools would only aggravate a bad situation. On the other hand, on a system-wide basis FCPS could fix some of its overcrowding issues if TJ's enrollment was not capped at @ 1800 kids and 30% of the students didn't come from outside the county.

Third, when TJ was majority white, so too was the county and the FCPS population. That is very different dynamic than a 70-75% Asian school in a school system with a 15-20% Asian enrollment.

People are sick of the TJ lobby telling everyone else to shut up. TJ was created as a marketing tool by a majority Republican Board of Supervisors in the 1980s to attract the East Coast outposts of defense contractors based in California to suburban office parks. We have an absolute right to ask whether its continued existence as a selective magnet is a net benefit to FCPS.

PP here. Not disagreeing with any of your points but don't think TJ will change just because the board, etc are filled with democrats. And my point about no one will complain if it was majority white still stands. Democratic whites will want to change this for the right reasons. Republican whites will want to change this (if they get behind it) out of jealousy. Personally, my DC 1 will be done with TJ next year (great experience BTW), DC2 is not interested, so don't really care what happens after that. However, it would be a great loss of prestige to this area if TJ becomes another watered down school ranking in the 100s.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many Aa and Hispanic kids apply to TJ? How many are accepted but choose not to attend? What are their scores on the entrance exam? TJ is race blind admisdions

Few are blind to the race of those admitted and not admitted. The Board of Supervisors and the School Board can't claim they care about "One Fairfax" and then turn a blind eye to a magnet school whose student body is overwhelmingly Asian and largely drawn from only four or five of the county's 25 or so middle and secondary schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ doesn't provide a real world, diverse education.

This is so silly. My TJ kid is coming out with a strong basis is science research, yes. But also an understanding of basic electronics, a certification in welding, the ability to CAD and 3rd print anything, basic computer programming, an incredibly strong grounding in writing and analysis. Shockingly strong history. 4 years of music. A zillion group projects and grades with an assigned lab partner that forced him to learn to collaborate with all different types of kids. What exactly do you think is missing?

It’s not diverse racially, socio-economically, socially and I’d argue intellectually.

Probably so. But so what? I'd say the same of a few of the FCPS schools - Langley, McLean, Madison, etc as well as the District of Columbia schools.. Look TJ is here to stay. Like it or not. People can yap all they want but no idiot is going to shut down or dilute the #1 (or close in most years) school in the country in the name of soclal justice. If parents want to allow their kids to attend, that's their call. If the parents that do want their kids to attend and the kids that do attend belong to one or a couple of ethnicities, so be it. What's wrong with that? None of the pseudo liberals anywhere in this state can do much about it, certainly not by whining anonymously on DCUM.. I bet you wouldn't be complaining if it was a majority white school..Make peace with it and move on. HS is just a short stop in the long road of life..

First, you're wrong about the diversity at Langley, McLean and Madison compared to TJ. All three are more diverse than TJ, and McLean has considerably more racial diversity than TJ while Madison has considerably more economic diversity.

Second, FCPS decides to renew TJ's status annually as a Governor's School, and the current School Board has real issues with TJ's demographics and the message that the near-total exclusion of black and Hispanic students from TJ sends about FCPS's commitment to equity and opportunity. TJ's two biggest supporters on the School Board in the past - Moon and Strauss - are no longer members. TJ's insurance policy is that it would be a huge logistical challenge to redraw the boundaries if the TJ kids were sent back to their base schools. Three of the four pyramids that send the most kids to TJ - McLean, Oakton and Chantlly - are overcrowded, so moving 160 kids back to each of those schools would only aggravate a bad situation. On the other hand, on a system-wide basis FCPS could fix some of its overcrowding issues if TJ's enrollment was not capped at @ 1800 kids and 30% of the students didn't come from outside the county.

Third, when TJ was majority white, so too was the county and the FCPS population. That is very different dynamic than a 70-75% Asian school in a school system with a 15-20% Asian enrollment.

People are sick of the TJ lobby telling everyone else to shut up. TJ was created as a marketing tool by a majority Republican Board of Supervisors in the 1980s to attract the East Coast outposts of defense contractors based in California to suburban office parks. We have an absolute right to ask whether its continued existence as a selective magnet is a net benefit to FCPS.

Anonymous wrote:How many Aa and Hispanic kids apply to TJ? How many are accepted but choose not to attend? What are their scores on the entrance exam? TJ is race blind admisdions

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ doesn't provide a real world, diverse education.

This is so silly. My TJ kid is coming out with a strong basis is science research, yes. But also an understanding of basic electronics, a certification in welding, the ability to CAD and 3rd print anything, basic computer programming, an incredibly strong grounding in writing and analysis. Shockingly strong history. 4 years of music. A zillion group projects and grades with an assigned lab partner that forced him to learn to collaborate with all different types of kids. What exactly do you think is missing?

It’s not diverse racially, socio-economically, socially and I’d argue intellectually.

Probably so. But so what? I'd say the same of a few of the FCPS schools - Langley, McLean, Madison, etc as well as the District of Columbia schools.. Look TJ is here to stay. Like it or not. People can yap all they want but no idiot is going to shut down or dilute the #1 (or close in most years) school in the country in the name of soclal justice. If parents want to allow their kids to attend, that's their call. If the parents that do want their kids to attend and the kids that do attend belong to one or a couple of ethnicities, so be it. What's wrong with that? None of the pseudo liberals anywhere in this state can do much about it, certainly not by whining anonymously on DCUM.. I bet you wouldn't be complaining if it was a majority white school..Make peace with it and move on. HS is just a short stop in the long road of life..

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone needs to look at TJ from a different perspective - a global perspective. It's small thinking to base your opinion of a school like TJ on the class composition, extracurricular activities, having a "normal" high school experience, etc. Does everyone realize that, if the USA doesn't get its act together w/r/t developing tech talent and tech innovation, China will take over the world? China already owns a crazy amount of real estate in this country, and is light years ahead in developing technology, and basically has a monopoly in manufacturing the things that people need (hello, PPE). The USA sorely needs schools like TJ, and students who have the interest and aptitude have a duty to our country to apply and attend and to make a positive contribution for the sake of our country. Otherwise, in a decade or two, we'll all be at the mercy of China. In case you don't know, the regime in China is not a benevolent one.

Ain't gonna happen. Not sure what you mean by "not a benevolent one". Who GAF! The US does not allow citizens to sue foreign countries..except when it's convenient. If and when China gets to the point of threatening the US all it takes is one class action lawsuit and one multi-trillion dollar judgment to wipe out their assets in the US. What are they going to do? We always have the bigger gun at the knife-fight.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ doesn't provide a real world, diverse education.

This is so silly. My TJ kid is coming out with a strong basis is science research, yes. But also an understanding of basic electronics, a certification in welding, the ability to CAD and 3rd print anything, basic computer programming, an incredibly strong grounding in writing and analysis. Shockingly strong history. 4 years of music. A zillion group projects and grades with an assigned lab partner that forced him to learn to collaborate with all different types of kids. What exactly do you think is missing?

It’s not diverse racially, socio-economically, socially and I’d argue intellectually.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TJ doesn't provide a real world, diverse education.

This is so silly. My TJ kid is coming out with a strong basis is science research, yes. But also an understanding of basic electronics, a certification in welding, the ability to CAD and 3rd print anything, basic computer programming, an incredibly strong grounding in writing and analysis. Shockingly strong history. 4 years of music. A zillion group projects and grades with an assigned lab partner that forced him to learn to collaborate with all different types of kids. What exactly do you think is missing?

It’s not diverse racially, socio-economically, socially and I’d argue intellectually.

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone needs to look at TJ from a different perspective - a global perspective. It's small thinking to base your opinion of a school like TJ on the class composition, extracurricular activities, having a "normal" high school experience, etc. Does everyone realize that, if the USA doesn't get its act together w/r/t developing tech talent and tech innovation, China will take over the world? China already owns a crazy amount of real estate in this country, and is light years ahead in developing technology, and basically has a monopoly in manufacturing the things that people need (hello, PPE). The USA sorely needs schools like TJ, and students who have the interest and aptitude have a duty to our country to apply and attend and to make a positive contribution for the sake of our country. Otherwise, in a decade or two, we'll all be at the mercy of China. In case you don't know, the regime in China is not a benevolent one.

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone needs to look at TJ from a different perspective - a global perspective. It's small thinking to base your opinion of a school like TJ on the class composition, extracurricular activities, having a "normal" high school experience, etc. Does everyone realize that, if the USA doesn't get its act together w/r/t developing tech talent and tech innovation, China will take over the world? China already owns a crazy amount of real estate in this country, and is light years ahead in developing technology, and basically has a monopoly in manufacturing the things that people need (hello, PPE). The USA sorely needs schools like TJ, and students who have the interest and aptitude have a duty to our country to apply and attend and to make a positive contribution for the sake of our country. Otherwise, in a decade or two, we'll all be at the mercy of China. In case you don't know, the regime in China is not a benevolent one.

Anonymous wrote:I think everyone needs to look at TJ from a different perspective - a global perspective. It's small thinking to base your opinion of a school like TJ on the class composition, extracurricular activities, having a "normal" high school experience, etc. Does everyone realize that, if the USA doesn't get its act together w/r/t developing tech talent and tech innovation, China will take over the world? China already owns a crazy amount of real estate in this country, and is light years ahead in developing technology, and basically has a monopoly in manufacturing the things that people need (hello, PPE). The USA sorely needs schools like TJ, and students who have the interest and aptitude have a duty to our country to apply and attend and to make a positive contribution for the sake of our country. Otherwise, in a decade or two, we'll all be at the mercy of China. In case you don't know, the regime in China is not a benevolent one.