In Defense of Merit at Thomas Jefferson High School
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) has maintained its standards for demonstrated excellence, particularly in STEM disciplines, in great part from its steadfast support of the Fairfax County Business Community and individuals who champion academic ability. Forward thinkers knew that Virginia’s ability to attract companies to build the economy in science and technology was dependent on a stellar educational system.
VIDEO: TJ’s Role in Driving Regional Growth and Innovation
The Coalition for TJ, a grassroots project of 8,000+ parents, students, alumni and local residents advocating for diversity and excellence in education, recently held a virtual forum on the magnet school’s vital role as a catalyst for innovation and growth in the Northern Virginia region.
The forum, moderated by Thomas Jefferson Institute President Chris Braunlich, featured a dynamic list of panelists.
ICYMI: Larry O’Connor Interviews Zia Tompkins
In late October, parent and education reform advocate Zia Tompkins joined WMAL’s Larry O’Connor Show, to discuss new efforts to recall members of the Fairfax County School Board. Tompkins, who ran for school board in 2019 with the Fairfax GOP endorsement, said that current board members have turned county students into “guinea pigs”
Families File Lawsuit Against Fairfax County Public Schools
Seventeen parents filed a lawsuit against the Fairfax County School Board and Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Brabrand for illegally changing the admissions process at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
TJ, as the school is known, is the nation’s top-ranked public high school, according to U.S. News & World Report.
FCPS Can Learn from Successful Charter Schools
In response to another year where a miniscule number of Black and Hispanic students were admitted to the incoming class at Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology (“TJ”), Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Superintendent Scott Brabrand is proposing to scrap the entrance exams and teacher recommendations and admit 80% of TJ’s students by lottery. The other 20% would be admitted on vague criteria
Asra Nomani: Woke Leftists “Targeting Asian Kids”
Asra Nomani was on WMAL’s Mornings on the Mall radio program today, discussing last night’s meeting of the Fairfax County School Board, where Superintendent Scott Brabrand unveiled his scheme to abolish merit-based, race-blind admissions standards at Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology (“TJ”).
If enacted last year, Brabrand’s scheme would have cut TJ’s Asian student body from 70 percent to 52 percent.
Want to Solve TJ’s Diversity Problem? Reject a False Binary
Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology (TJ), ranked as the nation’s #1 high school by U.S. News and World Report, is in the crosshairs of the Virginia Secretary of Education, Atif Qarni, and Fairfax County Public School Superintendent, Scott Brabrand. Lamentably, yet again, a miniscule number of Black and Hispanic students were admitted to TJ’s freshman class.
Over the summer, Secretary Qarni convened a secretive “task force” to sketch out their preferred solutions.
Fairfax GOP: Virginia’s Education Secretary Must Go
Fairfax GOP Chairman Steve Knotts is calling for the resignation of Virginia Secretary of Education Atif Qarni, in a blistering statement issued today. “With Atif Qarni, the special interests always come first,” Knotts lamented. “Now more than ever, we need a Secretary of Education who is laser-focused on serving the needs of Virginia’s students.”
“Secretary Qarni cruelly and baselessly defamed Asra Nomani — a devoted single mother, renowned investigative journalist and tireless human rights advocate,” Knotts said.
VIDEO: County Parents Discuss the FCPS “War on Merit”
Fairfax GOP Vice Chairman for Outreach Vinson Palathingal recently hosted a lively and informative virtual conversation about the “woke Left’s war” on Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology. Affectionately known as “TJ,” the public magnet school is ranked #1 in the country by U.S. News & World Report. Notwithstanding the school’s 79% minority enrollment, leftists want to replace its current merit-based admission policies with race-based criteria…
LISTEN: Asra Nomani Breaks Down the Woke Left’s War on TJ High School
Investigative journalist Asra Nomani was on WMAL’s Mornings on the Mall radio program last week, to discuss leftist attacks on race-blind, merit-based admissions to Fairfax County’s Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Technology (TJ). “In this new era of woke activism, they want to bring in quotas and lotteries that are essentially race-based admissions criteria,” Nomani told Mornings on the Mall co-hosts Vincent Coglianese and Mary Walter.