The U.S. Department of Education is investigating Fairfax County Public Schools over its admissions policy for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ).
The department announced today (Thursday) that it has opened an investigation into whether policy changes designed to diversify the magnet school’s student body violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race.
The move came one day after Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares accused FCPS of “intentional” discrimination against Asian American students following a state investigation into the admissions policy changes. His office referred its findings to the Education Department and Department of Justice.
“The Department of Education is grateful for the diligent work of Governor [Glenn] Youngkin and Attorney General Miyares for documenting a pattern of concerning practices at TJ, and we will further investigate this complaint to ensure that all students being assessed fairly, according to merit and accomplishment,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a lawsuit from a coalition of parents who argued that changes to TJ’s admissions process adopted by the Fairfax County School Board in 2020 were designed to reduce the number of accepted Asian students.
An appeals court had previously ruled in favor of FCPS, stating that the Coalition for TJ had failed to prove that the “race-neutral” policy changes had any discriminatory intent.
In a statement shared with FFXnow and other news outlets on Wednesday (May 21), FCPS said it would review the documents released by the state attorney general’s office.
“This matter has already been fully litigated,” FCPS said in the statement. “A federal appellate court determined there was no merit to arguments that the admissions policy for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology discriminates against any group of students.”
Seeking to broaden access to the highly competitive Annandale school, which accepted so few Black students in 2020 that the numbers couldn’t be reported, FCPS revised the admissions policy at Thomas Jefferson that October by removing a $100 application fee and admissions test and adopting a “holistic review” process.
The review considers students’ grades, a problem-solving essay, a “portrait sheet” of their skills, and three experience factors — special education status, eligibility for free or reduced-price meals and whether they’re an English language learner. The top scorers from each public middle school are also automatically accepted.
Admissions evaluators don’t have access to students’ name, race or other demographic information.
The first class admitted under the new policy in 2021 saw an increase in low-income students, English language learners, girls and Black and Hispanic students. About 54% of the admitted class were Asian American — a decline from prior year percentages that ranged from 65% to 75%.
In subsequent years, Asian students have regularly received around 60% of offers to TJ for 550 available seats.
The case had been considered a possible next step to challenging admissions practices, after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action and explicit consideration of race in its 2023 ruling against Harvard and the University of North Carolina. But in 2024, the Supreme Court declined to take up the case.
Exactly who will be handling the Education Department’s investigation into FCPS remains to be seen, as the Trump administration laid off thousands of workers and shuttered seven of 12 civil rights offices last month. A federal judge ordered today that the nearly 1,400 fired employees be reinstated, saying that McMahon lacks the authority to gut the department without Congressional approval.
The Department of Education also announced an investigation earlier this year into FCPS and other Northern Virginia school districts over their policies affirming students’ gender identity.
This story includes reporting from Associated Press education writer Annie Ma.
