Anonymous
Post 06/15/2022 22:39     Subject: TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
I'd improve funding for Young Scholars and update the selection criteria to identify kids who need the help. Kids who are FARMS, are lower middle class but not FARMS, have parents who do not have college degrees, have only one parent figure in their lives, or are part of a historically repressed group (people of Native American or Native Central/South American ancestry and people of African American ancestry - not including white Hispanics or Black Immigrants) would be the kids I would target for extra programming. I'd probably include refugees in the repressed people group. Free after school tutoring, summer programs, and ECs would be a part of the program.

The only true solution, though, is to lift people out of poverty. Our country lacks the will to do so, and instead would rather slap a band-aid on this gaping wound. Letting a handful more black kids into elite magnet programs gives people the warm fuzzies, but it doesn't do anything to address the deep problems causing the achievement gap.


We can improve funding and programs all we want, but the schools that these kids attend will continue to be the schools that everyone else is desperate to avoid. And as history has shown in these kinds of schools, like the case of DCPS, no amount of funding seems to be enough to lift those kids out of their poverty when they continue to be isolated into highly concentrated, very low-performing schools.


Financial support can help them but cannot change their life if they don’t have the self motivation and execution. Sending them to TJ also cannot change their life. Staying at the bottom of TJ is nothing good for them.


So glad you know what’s best for them. Yes, don’t waste a precious spot at TJ on them since you in all of your almighty knowledge say they don’t have the “self motivation and execution”. How would you know this for each individual child??? Hmmm. A stereotype. Kind of like the Asian parenting stereotypes. Interesting . . .



PP who suggested improving Young Scholars and trying to lift people out of poverty, here. I honestly don't think a precious spot at TJ should be wasted on a kid who has not demonstrated any particular self motivation or execution. Admitting kids to TJ who do not have the academic capacity for TJ is just setting them up for failure. But that's precisely why I want to improve Young Scholars, improve the lower SES middle schools, and try to lift people out of poverty. At least if the funding and programming is there for the lower SES kids, they have a much more fair chance to develop the academic skills they need and demonstrate their self motivation. Whether or not any individual kids rise to the occasion is up to them, but at least we're giving them a chance.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2022 22:14     Subject: TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
I'd improve funding for Young Scholars and update the selection criteria to identify kids who need the help. Kids who are FARMS, are lower middle class but not FARMS, have parents who do not have college degrees, have only one parent figure in their lives, or are part of a historically repressed group (people of Native American or Native Central/South American ancestry and people of African American ancestry - not including white Hispanics or Black Immigrants) would be the kids I would target for extra programming. I'd probably include refugees in the repressed people group. Free after school tutoring, summer programs, and ECs would be a part of the program.

The only true solution, though, is to lift people out of poverty. Our country lacks the will to do so, and instead would rather slap a band-aid on this gaping wound. Letting a handful more black kids into elite magnet programs gives people the warm fuzzies, but it doesn't do anything to address the deep problems causing the achievement gap.


We can improve funding and programs all we want, but the schools that these kids attend will continue to be the schools that everyone else is desperate to avoid. And as history has shown in these kinds of schools, like the case of DCPS, no amount of funding seems to be enough to lift those kids out of their poverty when they continue to be isolated into highly concentrated, very low-performing schools.


Financial support can help them but cannot change their life if they don’t have the self motivation and execution. Sending them to TJ also cannot change their life. Staying at the bottom of TJ is nothing good for them.


So glad you know what’s best for them. Yes, don’t waste a precious spot at TJ on them since you in all of your almighty knowledge say they don’t have the “self motivation and execution”. How would you know this for each individual child??? Hmmm. A stereotype. Kind of like the Asian parenting stereotypes. Interesting . . .

Anonymous
Post 06/15/2022 22:10     Subject: TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think parents could push kids in 7th or 8th grade. Kids in this age don’t listen to parents that much. Without self motivation, they are not able to make achievements they have been made so far.
It’s just the imagination about Asian parent pushing.


Hilarious!
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2022 21:22     Subject: TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
I'd improve funding for Young Scholars and update the selection criteria to identify kids who need the help. Kids who are FARMS, are lower middle class but not FARMS, have parents who do not have college degrees, have only one parent figure in their lives, or are part of a historically repressed group (people of Native American or Native Central/South American ancestry and people of African American ancestry - not including white Hispanics or Black Immigrants) would be the kids I would target for extra programming. I'd probably include refugees in the repressed people group. Free after school tutoring, summer programs, and ECs would be a part of the program.

The only true solution, though, is to lift people out of poverty. Our country lacks the will to do so, and instead would rather slap a band-aid on this gaping wound. Letting a handful more black kids into elite magnet programs gives people the warm fuzzies, but it doesn't do anything to address the deep problems causing the achievement gap.


We can improve funding and programs all we want, but the schools that these kids attend will continue to be the schools that everyone else is desperate to avoid. And as history has shown in these kinds of schools, like the case of DCPS, no amount of funding seems to be enough to lift those kids out of their poverty when they continue to be isolated into highly concentrated, very low-performing schools.


How do you know they are not motivated? Do you not get the structural issues of poverty and how it impacts everything?

Financial support can help them but cannot change their life if they don’t have the self motivation and execution. Sending them to TJ also cannot change their life. Staying at the bottom of TJ is nothing good for them.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2022 21:19     Subject: TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

Anonymous wrote:academic merit/strength has not much to do with wealth. Wealth helps with some activities, such as instrument playing, tennis, golf, travel, etc. Academic merit/strength comes from intelligence (gene), diligence, habit, time management, etc. you don’t have to be rich to have these merits.





You are naive. Nice with the eugenics..
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2022 21:07     Subject: TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
I'd improve funding for Young Scholars and update the selection criteria to identify kids who need the help. Kids who are FARMS, are lower middle class but not FARMS, have parents who do not have college degrees, have only one parent figure in their lives, or are part of a historically repressed group (people of Native American or Native Central/South American ancestry and people of African American ancestry - not including white Hispanics or Black Immigrants) would be the kids I would target for extra programming. I'd probably include refugees in the repressed people group. Free after school tutoring, summer programs, and ECs would be a part of the program.

The only true solution, though, is to lift people out of poverty. Our country lacks the will to do so, and instead would rather slap a band-aid on this gaping wound. Letting a handful more black kids into elite magnet programs gives people the warm fuzzies, but it doesn't do anything to address the deep problems causing the achievement gap.


We can improve funding and programs all we want, but the schools that these kids attend will continue to be the schools that everyone else is desperate to avoid. And as history has shown in these kinds of schools, like the case of DCPS, no amount of funding seems to be enough to lift those kids out of their poverty when they continue to be isolated into highly concentrated, very low-performing schools.


Financial support can help them but cannot change their life if they don’t have the self motivation and execution. Sending them to TJ also cannot change their life. Staying at the bottom of TJ is nothing good for them.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2022 21:00     Subject: TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

Anonymous wrote:
I'd improve funding for Young Scholars and update the selection criteria to identify kids who need the help. Kids who are FARMS, are lower middle class but not FARMS, have parents who do not have college degrees, have only one parent figure in their lives, or are part of a historically repressed group (people of Native American or Native Central/South American ancestry and people of African American ancestry - not including white Hispanics or Black Immigrants) would be the kids I would target for extra programming. I'd probably include refugees in the repressed people group. Free after school tutoring, summer programs, and ECs would be a part of the program.

The only true solution, though, is to lift people out of poverty. Our country lacks the will to do so, and instead would rather slap a band-aid on this gaping wound. Letting a handful more black kids into elite magnet programs gives people the warm fuzzies, but it doesn't do anything to address the deep problems causing the achievement gap.


We can improve funding and programs all we want, but the schools that these kids attend will continue to be the schools that everyone else is desperate to avoid. And as history has shown in these kinds of schools, like the case of DCPS, no amount of funding seems to be enough to lift those kids out of their poverty when they continue to be isolated into highly concentrated, very low-performing schools.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2022 20:00     Subject: TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

academic merit/strength has not much to do with wealth. Wealth helps with some activities, such as instrument playing, tennis, golf, travel, etc. Academic merit/strength comes from intelligence (gene), diligence, habit, time management, etc. you don’t have to be rich to have these merits.



Anonymous
Post 06/15/2022 19:31     Subject: TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The real privilege on academic is intelligence. Who should be responsible for your lacking of intelligence? You can make it up if you are willing to be diligent. The reality is, those people who speak loud about the academic privilege are those who have neither intelligence nor diligence.


You are such a smug jerk. You have no idea others’ IQ. Justify yourself however you need to. Just because your kid has been prepping since pre-k does not mean they are intelligent. And the problem that you fail to acknowledge is that there are some people who don’t have the privilege to do that. Get out of your little insular world and try to stand in someone else’s shoes for a minute. It’s not that everyone else is lazy and stupid. Other people have different circumstances that you know nothing about. Try, just try to imagine that someone else may be in a different situation.


No matter in what circumstances, responsible people should do their part well first before trying to pull others back.


Says the person of privilege who has never suffered. Nobody is trying to pull you back. They are trying to help those who are disadvantaged and need a little help to get to the same place. Don’t we want a society where all kids are well educated or do you just care about your own? Never mind. Don’t answer. I already know the answer.

Cool, but they aren't achieving that. The main URMs who are benefitting are wealthy black African immigrants with educated parents and wealthy white Europeans of Spanish ancestry (Yay. We're rewarding the white colonizers with URM perks alongside the people they oppressed!) White people may be patting themselves on the head for promoting diversity, but they aren't doing anything to help the people who have historically been oppressed and exploited. Case in point: At my kids' school, the upper middle class white kid with parents who are lawyers who happened to have a grandparent born in Spain got invited to Young Scholars, since she was Hispanic. The lower middle class Chinese ethnic minority Muslim girl whose family came here as refugees was not invited to Young Scholars, since she's a privileged Asian by white people standards.


It is all so screwed up and perverse? Is it because public policy types are private school going to Yale types who have no lived experience with Blacks/Hispanics or this just a progressive takedown at any cost of the Asians? Just trying to understand how we ended up in such a mess
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2022 19:02     Subject: Re:TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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Anonymous wrote:I don't see much evidence that Asian kids flooded into "under-represented" middle schools like Whitman and Holmes this past year to "game" the new process.

It seems more likely to me that Asian families will just anchor in the top pyramids so they can hedge their bets (still have their kids apply to TJ, but rest assured that the alternative is Langley/McLean/Oakton/Chantilly/Woodson). And, as TJ becomes seen primarily as an alternative to lower-performing high schools, fewer of their kids will apply, just like Asian families in MoCo send their kids to Wootton with only some considering the Blair magnet.


Correct. Asian will stay in top school zones.


Some will have a small house in a lower ranked area and a larger house in the top zone.


Seems so overkill for high school. TJ is just a high school in the end. No one cares if you went to TJ later in life and college outcomes aren’t really better because it’s so competitive. If you read their confessional page, cheating is rampant and kids are totally unhappy. It’s crazy to me that folks are this desperate for TJ. Get a life.


TJ is soooo shiny.



This thread is intended for people interested in TJ. This is not a place to bash TJ as that point is going to fall on deaf ears. What is your purpose except maybe as someone embittered that TJ is unattainable?


I’m not bashing TJ. I’m bashing the parents who have been plotting their child’s path for TJ admissions since 2nd grade because they are obsessed with the prestige.



Why would you bash parents who want their kids to be successful? You seem to be obsessed with perpetuating a particular stereotype of a TJ applicant in the past in order to justify a new process that, as this thread indicates, has been anything but smooth. You've offered next to nothing to suggest that the new process is better at identifying students who may have an actual interest in, or aptitude for, STEM.


I'm bashing parents fostering an unhealthy, toxic environment for our kids.


You could always raise your kids as you see fit, and stop interfering with how other parents raise theirs.

It reeks of privilege for people like you to assert that other parents are somehow fostering an "unhealthy, toxic environment" for your kids. It's like you think you're the ones who should always decide the rules and the appropriate cultural norms.


Hmm. I wonder why teen suicides are out of control. Don’t get me wrong, I blame the sports parents, too. It’s all too much! I feel horrible for these kids who have been robbed of their childhood and expected to plan for a career (or to be an Olympian, get a scholarship, etc) from early childhood. It’s so messed up.


You could just as readily ascribe blame to FCPS officials for keeping schools closed so long, with the resultant isolation, lack of social interaction with peers, and loss of learning. That seems to have much more of an impact on students' mental health than parents encouraging their kids to participate in a Science Olympiad or to apply to TJ.

But, again, if you think it's up to FCPS to counter parents who "rob kids of their childhood," then the logical inference is that you should be advocating for the elimination of the STEM magnet at TJ, and not tinkering with the admissions process to admit more kids who may not be up to the school's challenges.


See, if is all very obvious. The white parents have a playbook which kept them on top. And which they think is the right thing to do. The Asians have a different playbook that they saw. Now that the Asian playbook is winning, whites want to say it is a bad toxi playbook. For a while, whites were embarassed that a minority was doing well. And grudgingly let it go. Then the envy got too much and they started saying you are no longer a minority - let's use the URM weapon to bash them. And here we are. Whatever argument you have - there is a counter. You Asians are just privileged, overworking, cheating, unidimensina, toxic people who need to be replaced. Never mind what your background/income levels are. This is a moment in time to vilify you. There is an absolute problem with the black community which needs to be addressed, but we just have some immigrant kids with motivated patents from Africa and South America being accidental winners here. All power to them. No real impact in areas where there should be. Of course as long as the end result is less Asians. whites are heaving a sigh of temporary relief. There!


Nope.

Whites DGAF. When we looked at the application data on an earlier thread, only 50% of eligible white kids even bothered to apply compared to 90%+ black and Asian kids. White families aren’t “envious” at all.

The community looked at how this valuable resource was being utilized and it was monopolized by a small group of wealthy middle schools. And there were embarrassingly few URMs or ED kids. 0.6% ED in 2024.

Maybe it’s white guilt for building such an unfair system. But it’s certainly not “envy”. You are totally off base.


I disagree. I'm white, and for the most part, white people love the prestige. They just don't want to put in the work like Asian kids do. In this forum alone, there have been numerous threads with parents complaining that their white kids are behind the Asian kids, despite their white kids' superior "natural aptitude." White people want to disincentivize anyone getting rewarded for working harder than they're willing to work. Even in this thread, there are suggestions that the Asian work ethic is toxic, the kids are suffering due to the high expectations, and Asians are doing things wrong because no one is supposed to work that hard in America.

The TJ reform is all about taking away any and all incentives for Asian kids to dominate in academics. If Asian kids are knocked down a few pegs or stop trying so hard, it flows that white kids will look better in comparison. White kids weren't especially interested in TJ because it required too much work for too little gain. If TJ gets watered down and no longer has so many strong Asian students at the top of the class, white kids will flock back.


I have never seen that on here. Examples?

And TJ reform isn’t about knocking down Asian students; it’s an attempt to lift others up by leveling the playing field. This admissions process isn’t perfect but it’s a step in the right direction.



And the civil war was about states’ rights - really it was. It so happened that some citizens of a certain race were impacted. I was not about them. It was all about preserving the federal nature of the union. Just ask the African Americans how they felt.

P.S. ~ don’t be tone deaf. Listen to your Asian neighbors. If they feel wronged then maybe this reform had something to do with it? See what happened in San Francisco with the school board.

Have your listening years on and you will be a more effective and impactful reformer.


What about the Asians who support reform?
https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/press-release/civil-rights-groups-submit-amicus-brief-support-race-neutral-admissions-policy-thomas

Why is it that you think only one subset of the population should have a voice? What about everyone else?




Still waiting on the answer to this.


Do you seek out Clarence Thomas and Herschel Walker when you need input on African American issues?


False equivalence. AAAJ are not crazy extremists.


Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

You wanted your answer - there you have it.



You think AAAJ are crazy extremists? Based on what?

And you haven’t answered why you think only one small subset of the population should have a voice? What about everyone else?



I don’t call anyone “crazy extremists” unless it’s is the Patriot Front. I don’t agree with Clarence Thomas on most things but I don’t think he is a crazy extremist. Those were your words.

You seem to think that Asians protesting against the inequitable education “reform” nationwide are in a minority. They are not. As has been made clear by how the San Francisco school board recall unfolded.

I don’t know AAAJ - the little I read suggested that they were knee-deep in the political fight with C4TJ.

To suggest that AAAJ is representative of the Asian community is to suggest that Clarence Thomas represents the black community.

I know the pulse of my community and I know the Dems will feel the heat this November - much like in San Francisco - in less they get their act together.


As a white dad of an Asian (adopted) kid, I will never be voting democrat again after this racist crap


Yes, everyone knows the GOP loves public education, women rights and for gun control. Well, except the opposite of all that... ::


DP. I will vote Democratic for national and state-wide elections, but the local Democrats in Fairfax need to pay a price for their gross mismanagement of FCPS. School Board, Board of Supervisors - they need to GO.


Keep dreaming.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2022 19:00     Subject: Re:TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't see much evidence that Asian kids flooded into "under-represented" middle schools like Whitman and Holmes this past year to "game" the new process.

It seems more likely to me that Asian families will just anchor in the top pyramids so they can hedge their bets (still have their kids apply to TJ, but rest assured that the alternative is Langley/McLean/Oakton/Chantilly/Woodson). And, as TJ becomes seen primarily as an alternative to lower-performing high schools, fewer of their kids will apply, just like Asian families in MoCo send their kids to Wootton with only some considering the Blair magnet.


Correct. Asian will stay in top school zones.


Some will have a small house in a lower ranked area and a larger house in the top zone.


Seems so overkill for high school. TJ is just a high school in the end. No one cares if you went to TJ later in life and college outcomes aren’t really better because it’s so competitive. If you read their confessional page, cheating is rampant and kids are totally unhappy. It’s crazy to me that folks are this desperate for TJ. Get a life.


TJ is soooo shiny.



This thread is intended for people interested in TJ. This is not a place to bash TJ as that point is going to fall on deaf ears. What is your purpose except maybe as someone embittered that TJ is unattainable?


I’m not bashing TJ. I’m bashing the parents who have been plotting their child’s path for TJ admissions since 2nd grade because they are obsessed with the prestige.



Why would you bash parents who want their kids to be successful? You seem to be obsessed with perpetuating a particular stereotype of a TJ applicant in the past in order to justify a new process that, as this thread indicates, has been anything but smooth. You've offered next to nothing to suggest that the new process is better at identifying students who may have an actual interest in, or aptitude for, STEM.


I'm bashing parents fostering an unhealthy, toxic environment for our kids.


You could always raise your kids as you see fit, and stop interfering with how other parents raise theirs.

It reeks of privilege for people like you to assert that other parents are somehow fostering an "unhealthy, toxic environment" for your kids. It's like you think you're the ones who should always decide the rules and the appropriate cultural norms.


Hmm. I wonder why teen suicides are out of control. Don’t get me wrong, I blame the sports parents, too. It’s all too much! I feel horrible for these kids who have been robbed of their childhood and expected to plan for a career (or to be an Olympian, get a scholarship, etc) from early childhood. It’s so messed up.


You could just as readily ascribe blame to FCPS officials for keeping schools closed so long, with the resultant isolation, lack of social interaction with peers, and loss of learning. That seems to have much more of an impact on students' mental health than parents encouraging their kids to participate in a Science Olympiad or to apply to TJ.

But, again, if you think it's up to FCPS to counter parents who "rob kids of their childhood," then the logical inference is that you should be advocating for the elimination of the STEM magnet at TJ, and not tinkering with the admissions process to admit more kids who may not be up to the school's challenges.


See, if is all very obvious. The white parents have a playbook which kept them on top. And which they think is the right thing to do. The Asians have a different playbook that they saw. Now that the Asian playbook is winning, whites want to say it is a bad toxi playbook. For a while, whites were embarassed that a minority was doing well. And grudgingly let it go. Then the envy got too much and they started saying you are no longer a minority - let's use the URM weapon to bash them. And here we are. Whatever argument you have - there is a counter. You Asians are just privileged, overworking, cheating, unidimensina, toxic people who need to be replaced. Never mind what your background/income levels are. This is a moment in time to vilify you. There is an absolute problem with the black community which needs to be addressed, but we just have some immigrant kids with motivated patents from Africa and South America being accidental winners here. All power to them. No real impact in areas where there should be. Of course as long as the end result is less Asians. whites are heaving a sigh of temporary relief. There!


Nope.

Whites DGAF. When we looked at the application data on an earlier thread, only 50% of eligible white kids even bothered to apply compared to 90%+ black and Asian kids. White families aren’t “envious” at all.

The community looked at how this valuable resource was being utilized and it was monopolized by a small group of wealthy middle schools. And there were embarrassingly few URMs or ED kids. 0.6% ED in 2024.

Maybe it’s white guilt for building such an unfair system. But it’s certainly not “envy”. You are totally off base.


I disagree. I'm white, and for the most part, white people love the prestige. They just don't want to put in the work like Asian kids do. In this forum alone, there have been numerous threads with parents complaining that their white kids are behind the Asian kids, despite their white kids' superior "natural aptitude." White people want to disincentivize anyone getting rewarded for working harder than they're willing to work. Even in this thread, there are suggestions that the Asian work ethic is toxic, the kids are suffering due to the high expectations, and Asians are doing things wrong because no one is supposed to work that hard in America.

The TJ reform is all about taking away any and all incentives for Asian kids to dominate in academics. If Asian kids are knocked down a few pegs or stop trying so hard, it flows that white kids will look better in comparison. White kids weren't especially interested in TJ because it required too much work for too little gain. If TJ gets watered down and no longer has so many strong Asian students at the top of the class, white kids will flock back.


I have never seen that on here. Examples?

And TJ reform isn’t about knocking down Asian students; it’s an attempt to lift others up by leveling the playing field. This admissions process isn’t perfect but it’s a step in the right direction.



And the civil war was about states’ rights - really it was. It so happened that some citizens of a certain race were impacted. I was not about them. It was all about preserving the federal nature of the union. Just ask the African Americans how they felt.

P.S. ~ don’t be tone deaf. Listen to your Asian neighbors. If they feel wronged then maybe this reform had something to do with it? See what happened in San Francisco with the school board.

Have your listening years on and you will be a more effective and impactful reformer.


What about the Asians who support reform?
https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/press-release/civil-rights-groups-submit-amicus-brief-support-race-neutral-admissions-policy-thomas

Why is it that you think only one subset of the population should have a voice? What about everyone else?




Still waiting on the answer to this.


Do you seek out Clarence Thomas and Herschel Walker when you need input on African American issues?


False equivalence. AAAJ are not crazy extremists.


Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

You wanted your answer - there you have it.



You think AAAJ are crazy extremists? Based on what?

And you haven’t answered why you think only one small subset of the population should have a voice? What about everyone else?



I don’t call anyone “crazy extremists” unless it’s is the Patriot Front. I don’t agree with Clarence Thomas on most things but I don’t think he is a crazy extremist. Those were your words.

You seem to think that Asians protesting against the inequitable education “reform” nationwide are in a minority. They are not. As has been made clear by how the San Francisco school board recall unfolded.

I don’t know AAAJ - the little I read suggested that they were knee-deep in the political fight with C4TJ.

To suggest that AAAJ is representative of the Asian community is to suggest that Clarence Thomas represents the black community.

I know the pulse of my community and I know the Dems will feel the heat this November - much like in San Francisco - in less they get their act together.


As a white dad of an Asian (adopted) kid, I will never be voting democrat again after this racist crap


Yes, everyone knows the GOP loves public education, women rights and for gun control. Well, except the opposite of all that... ::


DP. I will vote Democratic for national and state-wide elections, but the local Democrats in Fairfax need to pay a price for their gross mismanagement of FCPS. School Board, Board of Supervisors - they need to GO.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2022 18:57     Subject: Re:TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't see much evidence that Asian kids flooded into "under-represented" middle schools like Whitman and Holmes this past year to "game" the new process.

It seems more likely to me that Asian families will just anchor in the top pyramids so they can hedge their bets (still have their kids apply to TJ, but rest assured that the alternative is Langley/McLean/Oakton/Chantilly/Woodson). And, as TJ becomes seen primarily as an alternative to lower-performing high schools, fewer of their kids will apply, just like Asian families in MoCo send their kids to Wootton with only some considering the Blair magnet.


Correct. Asian will stay in top school zones.


Some will have a small house in a lower ranked area and a larger house in the top zone.


Seems so overkill for high school. TJ is just a high school in the end. No one cares if you went to TJ later in life and college outcomes aren’t really better because it’s so competitive. If you read their confessional page, cheating is rampant and kids are totally unhappy. It’s crazy to me that folks are this desperate for TJ. Get a life.


TJ is soooo shiny.



This thread is intended for people interested in TJ. This is not a place to bash TJ as that point is going to fall on deaf ears. What is your purpose except maybe as someone embittered that TJ is unattainable?


I’m not bashing TJ. I’m bashing the parents who have been plotting their child’s path for TJ admissions since 2nd grade because they are obsessed with the prestige.



Why would you bash parents who want their kids to be successful? You seem to be obsessed with perpetuating a particular stereotype of a TJ applicant in the past in order to justify a new process that, as this thread indicates, has been anything but smooth. You've offered next to nothing to suggest that the new process is better at identifying students who may have an actual interest in, or aptitude for, STEM.


I'm bashing parents fostering an unhealthy, toxic environment for our kids.


You could always raise your kids as you see fit, and stop interfering with how other parents raise theirs.

It reeks of privilege for people like you to assert that other parents are somehow fostering an "unhealthy, toxic environment" for your kids. It's like you think you're the ones who should always decide the rules and the appropriate cultural norms.


Hmm. I wonder why teen suicides are out of control. Don’t get me wrong, I blame the sports parents, too. It’s all too much! I feel horrible for these kids who have been robbed of their childhood and expected to plan for a career (or to be an Olympian, get a scholarship, etc) from early childhood. It’s so messed up.


You could just as readily ascribe blame to FCPS officials for keeping schools closed so long, with the resultant isolation, lack of social interaction with peers, and loss of learning. That seems to have much more of an impact on students' mental health than parents encouraging their kids to participate in a Science Olympiad or to apply to TJ.

But, again, if you think it's up to FCPS to counter parents who "rob kids of their childhood," then the logical inference is that you should be advocating for the elimination of the STEM magnet at TJ, and not tinkering with the admissions process to admit more kids who may not be up to the school's challenges.


See, if is all very obvious. The white parents have a playbook which kept them on top. And which they think is the right thing to do. The Asians have a different playbook that they saw. Now that the Asian playbook is winning, whites want to say it is a bad toxi playbook. For a while, whites were embarassed that a minority was doing well. And grudgingly let it go. Then the envy got too much and they started saying you are no longer a minority - let's use the URM weapon to bash them. And here we are. Whatever argument you have - there is a counter. You Asians are just privileged, overworking, cheating, unidimensina, toxic people who need to be replaced. Never mind what your background/income levels are. This is a moment in time to vilify you. There is an absolute problem with the black community which needs to be addressed, but we just have some immigrant kids with motivated patents from Africa and South America being accidental winners here. All power to them. No real impact in areas where there should be. Of course as long as the end result is less Asians. whites are heaving a sigh of temporary relief. There!


Nope.

Whites DGAF. When we looked at the application data on an earlier thread, only 50% of eligible white kids even bothered to apply compared to 90%+ black and Asian kids. White families aren’t “envious” at all.

The community looked at how this valuable resource was being utilized and it was monopolized by a small group of wealthy middle schools. And there were embarrassingly few URMs or ED kids. 0.6% ED in 2024.

Maybe it’s white guilt for building such an unfair system. But it’s certainly not “envy”. You are totally off base.


I disagree. I'm white, and for the most part, white people love the prestige. They just don't want to put in the work like Asian kids do. In this forum alone, there have been numerous threads with parents complaining that their white kids are behind the Asian kids, despite their white kids' superior "natural aptitude." White people want to disincentivize anyone getting rewarded for working harder than they're willing to work. Even in this thread, there are suggestions that the Asian work ethic is toxic, the kids are suffering due to the high expectations, and Asians are doing things wrong because no one is supposed to work that hard in America.

The TJ reform is all about taking away any and all incentives for Asian kids to dominate in academics. If Asian kids are knocked down a few pegs or stop trying so hard, it flows that white kids will look better in comparison. White kids weren't especially interested in TJ because it required too much work for too little gain. If TJ gets watered down and no longer has so many strong Asian students at the top of the class, white kids will flock back.


I have never seen that on here. Examples?

And TJ reform isn’t about knocking down Asian students; it’s an attempt to lift others up by leveling the playing field. This admissions process isn’t perfect but it’s a step in the right direction.



And the civil war was about states’ rights - really it was. It so happened that some citizens of a certain race were impacted. I was not about them. It was all about preserving the federal nature of the union. Just ask the African Americans how they felt.

P.S. ~ don’t be tone deaf. Listen to your Asian neighbors. If they feel wronged then maybe this reform had something to do with it? See what happened in San Francisco with the school board.

Have your listening years on and you will be a more effective and impactful reformer.


What about the Asians who support reform?
https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/press-release/civil-rights-groups-submit-amicus-brief-support-race-neutral-admissions-policy-thomas

Why is it that you think only one subset of the population should have a voice? What about everyone else?




Still waiting on the answer to this.


Do you seek out Clarence Thomas and Herschel Walker when you need input on African American issues?


False equivalence. AAAJ are not crazy extremists.


Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

You wanted your answer - there you have it.



You think AAAJ are crazy extremists? Based on what?

And you haven’t answered why you think only one small subset of the population should have a voice? What about everyone else?



I don’t call anyone “crazy extremists” unless it’s is the Patriot Front. I don’t agree with Clarence Thomas on most things but I don’t think he is a crazy extremist. Those were your words.

You seem to think that Asians protesting against the inequitable education “reform” nationwide are in a minority. They are not. As has been made clear by how the San Francisco school board recall unfolded.

I don’t know AAAJ - the little I read suggested that they were knee-deep in the political fight with C4TJ.

To suggest that AAAJ is representative of the Asian community is to suggest that Clarence Thomas represents the black community.

I know the pulse of my community and I know the Dems will feel the heat this November - much like in San Francisco - in less they get their act together.


As a white dad of an Asian (adopted) kid, I will never be voting democrat again after this racist crap


Yes, everyone knows the GOP loves public education, women rights and for gun control. Well, except the opposite of all that... ::
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2022 18:39     Subject: TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

I don’t think parents could push kids in 7th or 8th grade. Kids in this age don’t listen to parents that much. Without self motivation, they are not able to make achievements they have been made so far.
It’s just the imagination about Asian parent pushing.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2022 18:30     Subject: TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The real privilege on academic is intelligence. Who should be responsible for your lacking of intelligence? You can make it up if you are willing to be diligent. The reality is, those people who speak loud about the academic privilege are those who have neither intelligence nor diligence.


You are such a smug jerk. You have no idea others’ IQ. Justify yourself however you need to. Just because your kid has been prepping since pre-k does not mean they are intelligent. And the problem that you fail to acknowledge is that there are some people who don’t have the privilege to do that. Get out of your little insular world and try to stand in someone else’s shoes for a minute. It’s not that everyone else is lazy and stupid. Other people have different circumstances that you know nothing about. Try, just try to imagine that someone else may be in a different situation.


No matter in what circumstances, responsible people should do their part well first before trying to pull others back.


Says the person of privilege who has never suffered. Nobody is trying to pull you back. They are trying to help those who are disadvantaged and need a little help to get to the same place. Don’t we want a society where all kids are well educated or do you just care about your own? Never mind. Don’t answer. I already know the answer.

Cool, but they aren't achieving that. The main URMs who are benefitting are wealthy black African immigrants with educated parents and wealthy white Europeans of Spanish ancestry (Yay. We're rewarding the white colonizers with URM perks alongside the people they oppressed!) White people may be patting themselves on the head for promoting diversity, but they aren't doing anything to help the people who have historically been oppressed and exploited. Case in point: At my kids' school, the upper middle class white kid with parents who are lawyers who happened to have a grandparent born in Spain got invited to Young Scholars, since she was Hispanic. The lower middle class Chinese ethnic minority Muslim girl whose family came here as refugees was not invited to Young Scholars, since she's a privileged Asian by white people standards.


So let’s find the right solution that helps the people it should. What do you think that is?

I'd improve funding for Young Scholars and update the selection criteria to identify kids who need the help. Kids who are FARMS, are lower middle class but not FARMS, have parents who do not have college degrees, have only one parent figure in their lives, or are part of a historically repressed group (people of Native American or Native Central/South American ancestry and people of African American ancestry - not including white Hispanics or Black Immigrants) would be the kids I would target for extra programming. I'd probably include refugees in the repressed people group. Free after school tutoring, summer programs, and ECs would be a part of the program.

The only true solution, though, is to lift people out of poverty. Our country lacks the will to do so, and instead would rather slap a band-aid on this gaping wound. Letting a handful more black kids into elite magnet programs gives people the warm fuzzies, but it doesn't do anything to address the deep problems causing the achievement gap.


I agree with the solution helping those kids, such as the free after school, free summer school, EC, etc. any help would be good. It’s also ok to give extra experience factor scores, as long it is reasonable.
I do not agree with lowering the academic standard. It’s suicide.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2022 17:36     Subject: TJ admissions now verifying free and reduced price meal status for successful 2026 applicants

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The real privilege on academic is intelligence. Who should be responsible for your lacking of intelligence? You can make it up if you are willing to be diligent. The reality is, those people who speak loud about the academic privilege are those who have neither intelligence nor diligence.


You are such a smug jerk. You have no idea others’ IQ. Justify yourself however you need to. Just because your kid has been prepping since pre-k does not mean they are intelligent. And the problem that you fail to acknowledge is that there are some people who don’t have the privilege to do that. Get out of your little insular world and try to stand in someone else’s shoes for a minute. It’s not that everyone else is lazy and stupid. Other people have different circumstances that you know nothing about. Try, just try to imagine that someone else may be in a different situation.


No matter in what circumstances, responsible people should do their part well first before trying to pull others back.


Says the person of privilege who has never suffered. Nobody is trying to pull you back. They are trying to help those who are disadvantaged and need a little help to get to the same place. Don’t we want a society where all kids are well educated or do you just care about your own? Never mind. Don’t answer. I already know the answer.

Cool, but they aren't achieving that. The main URMs who are benefitting are wealthy black African immigrants with educated parents and wealthy white Europeans of Spanish ancestry (Yay. We're rewarding the white colonizers with URM perks alongside the people they oppressed!) White people may be patting themselves on the head for promoting diversity, but they aren't doing anything to help the people who have historically been oppressed and exploited. Case in point: At my kids' school, the upper middle class white kid with parents who are lawyers who happened to have a grandparent born in Spain got invited to Young Scholars, since she was Hispanic. The lower middle class Chinese ethnic minority Muslim girl whose family came here as refugees was not invited to Young Scholars, since she's a privileged Asian by white people standards.


So let’s find the right solution that helps the people it should. What do you think that is?

I'd improve funding for Young Scholars and update the selection criteria to identify kids who need the help. Kids who are FARMS, are lower middle class but not FARMS, have parents who do not have college degrees, have only one parent figure in their lives, or are part of a historically repressed group (people of Native American or Native Central/South American ancestry and people of African American ancestry - not including white Hispanics or Black Immigrants) would be the kids I would target for extra programming. I'd probably include refugees in the repressed people group. Free after school tutoring, summer programs, and ECs would be a part of the program.

The only true solution, though, is to lift people out of poverty. Our country lacks the will to do so, and instead would rather slap a band-aid on this gaping wound. Letting a handful more black kids into elite magnet programs gives people the warm fuzzies, but it doesn't do anything to address the deep problems causing the achievement gap.


Agree. I think those solutions would be a start. I remember when my kid was in AAP in third grade way back when, the smartest kid was a URM that everyone doubted until you saw what he could do. Brilliant kid. Obviously, he was identified through the AAP process and probably Young Scholars (which was kind of a joke back then). I just wonder how many other kids like him are out there that we are missing. His parents did not speak English practically at all and had no idea about the programs. My kid was friends with him and As I understand it, he was just identified and pulled in. His parents rarely showed up for things and it was obvious they did not have the knowledge of the system or the time to support him. Kids like that should be at TJ.