Equity
Appeals Court Overturns District Court Ruling in TJ Case
In a 2-1 split decision today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed the lower court’s ruling in Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board. The district court had ruled in February 2022 that the Fairfax County School Board’s revision of admissions criteria for the elite Thomas Jefferson High School for…
Read MoreFCPS Consideration of “Equity Policy” Coming Soon
A proposed “Equity Policy” for the Fairfax County Public School system (FCPS) will be considered by the county School Board at a work session on June 20 and will come up for final approval at the Board’s June 26 meeting, just five weeks from now. This is despite the fact that a draft of the…
Read MoreFairfax School Board Is Sued Over National Merit Secrecy
Fairfax Schools Monitor has sued the Fairfax County School Board to compel the release of its factual findings concerning the National Merit “commended student” controversy. The suit was filed on April 27 in the Fairfax County General District Court under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. (“FOIA”). Background In December 2022 an article in the…
Read MoreDid Fairfax Schools Hide Academic Awards from Families — Update
On March 29, 2023, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) published the “Key Findings” of a hired law firm’s investigation into allegations that school officials had failed to inform students and parents of National Merit “commended student” awards. The document is HERE. “Key Findings” concedes that students in several FCPS high schools didn’t receive timely notices…
Read MoreStrategic Plan and “Equity Policy,” Part 3
The last post reported on the drafting of a new Strategic Plan for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS); this one summarizes the status of a separate, but related, “Equity Policy.” Background The “equity policy” process dates back to September 2020, when the FCPS equity team made a presentation to the School Board, proposing an “anti-racism,…
Read MoreStrategic Plan and “Equity Policy,” Part 2
This article reports on the development of a new Strategic Plan for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), and the role of “equity” in it. A subsequent article will discuss FCPS’s simultaneous development of a separate but related initiative, the “Equity Policy.” Development of the Strategic Plan The Superintendent of FCPS initiated a planning process in…
Read MoreNew Strategic Plan and “Equity Policy” for Fairfax County Public Schools
This article, and several others that will follow, will report on the development and content of two important initiatives for Fairfax County Public Schools (“FCPS”): a new, multi-year Strategic Plan, and a formal Equity Policy. The two are closely related and will operate hand-in-hand in practice. The term “equity” will be defined in the Equity…
Read MoreFairfax Schools Hide Academic Awards from Families — Another Update
In December 2022 it was revealed that the elite Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (“TJ”) in Fairfax County, Virginia, had withheld National Merit “commended student” awards from students and their parents. TJ’s leaders explained at the time that they did this so the feelings of other students wouldn’t be hurt; they added:…
Read MoreFairfax Schools Hide Academic Awards from Families — Update
Since this story broke on December 21, new developments have occurred almost daily. The story has held the attention of the public, press and government authorities because it vividly exemplifies how the Fairfax County public school system (“FCPS”) has elevated “equity” over academic standards and achievement. Factual Developments Journalist Asra Nomani’s December 21 article in…
Read MoreTJ Principal Hides Academic Awards for the Sake of “Equity”
Many troublesome issues have been discussed on this site regarding the ideological direction of the Fairfax County Public School system (FCPS). None can compare to this one in terms of sheer stupidity, cruelty and misguided priorities. Before reading further, please read the highlighted article below, which chronicles an intentional effort by the principal and an…
Read More