Good Riddance to TJ’s Principal
Earlier this week, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) announced that Ann Bonitatibus, the principal of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (“TJ”), was “resigning” to take a new position in the central office. The announcement followed the release of data showing that TJ’s number of National Merit semifinalists had plummeted from 165 last year to 81 this year (despite 100 more students this year than last).
The dramatic decline is the inevitable result of a decision made in 2020 when the FCPS School Board decided that “equity/social justice” ideology was more important than academic excellence. Up until then, TJ was the #1 rated academic high school in the country, but more than 70 percent of its students were Asian Americans, and only a handful were African Americans or Hispanics. This was unacceptable, so the School Board jettisoned rigorous tests of academic preparedness in favor of “holistic” admissions criteria that were designed to discriminate against Asian Americans in favor of other minorities. Although Fairfax County has thirty secondary schools, many of which are highly rated, the Board decided it was unacceptable to have even one that stressed rigorous academics over wokeness.
TJ’s #1 ranking in 2020, 2021 and 2022 fell to 5th in 2023 and to 14th this year. Then came the news that the number of National Merit semifinalists fell by more than 50% (the first year in which the revised admissions standards had their full effect on the senior class). This seems to have finally awakened FCPS leadership to the fact that the “reforms” have had a substantial negative impact on quality.
The principal’s new position in the central office (as Director of Talent Acquisition and Management in the Human Resources Department) is being called a promotion. This appears to be a public relations attempt to avoid admitting that her performance at TJ has been deficient. The announcement didn’t come from the principal herself; it came from the FCPS Superintendent, Michelle Reid, who took the unusual step of going to TJ on Tuesday to break the news to the school’s faculty and staff personally. And its timing — just a couple of months into the school year and on the heels of the disastrous National Merit performance data — strongly suggests that the principal has been removed for unsuccessful leadership. I hope, at least, that this is what has occurred, because if FCPS’s managers really intended to reward Ms. Bonitatibus with a “promotion,” it would mean they are totally unconcerned about a decline in high-level academic achievement.
Of course, the School Board must bear principal responsibility for what has happened at TJ. But Ms. Bonitatibus shares the blame. She championed the “reforms.” Tellingly, in December 2022, when it came to light that TJ had significantly delayed notifying students and their parents of Commended Student awards from the National Merit organization, Ms. Bonitatibus reportedly told a parent: “We want to recognize students for who they are as individuals, not focus on their achievements.” And in an email to TJ parents last week, she gave equal prominence to her efforts during her tenure to promote, along with academics, “diversity” and touchy-feely notions of “social and emotional health.”
It remains to be seen whether the School Board and FCPS management will learn from their mistakes and take firm action — in its selection of a new principal and otherwise — to restore academic rigor to the once-prestigious institution.
If you found this article to be informative and helpful, please share it with others and urge them to receive notices of future postings on this site.
Maybe, just maybe the tide is turning. We can only hope.
The wise learn from the examples of others and extrapolation to the facts of their own case; fools must learn by hard knocks and reinvent the wheel. I predict that it will take a good number of additional painful consequences to awaken the fanatics from their “woke” slumber.
Thanks, Mark, I hope, as Karen suggests . the tide is turning.
I am deeply outraged for the families of academically outstanding students who have been adversely affected by this policy shortcoming. It’s disappointing to see this documented decline in academic excellence, and it raises the question of accountability for Fairfax County’s school board. I hope the community and voters recognize the importance of upholding educational standards
Charlotte: Thanks for your comment. I totally agree with you.
Mark
This is not good news. Now she can enforce her disastrous ideology across the county in her role in controlling who is hired in our schools. No school is safe from her. The school board is still 100 percent committed to leftist ideology and continuing to downplay academics in favor of equality, bringing us all down because they cannot bring the bottom up. It’s the only way to achieve equality. But this is what this county keeps voting for, so there’s no tide turning.
The drop in the rankings is bad, it is an outcome FCPS likely really doesn’t care about – may even celebrate. The decades-long involvement of TJ leadership in selling/giving intellectual property
on how to run every aspect of America’s former #1 high school to China (a “manual to clone TJ”) may have played a role in what is happening at the school now with reassignments.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/virginia-school-system-sold-china-a-handbook-on-how-to-clone-americas-top-stem-school
WE know what the problems are and who is causing them, specifically at TJHSST. WE agree. How do we draw in voters at the next School Board election so that the policies can change for the better for all the students in the county? The Board has a lot to account for in its support of the equity agenda. The students at TJ have been truly exceptional in the past, due to their high intelligence backed by hard work and clarity of purpose. They were able to meet the high standards and achieve without any lowering of standards. Academics should always be the guiding principle for our educational system. Surely this should be a yellow light for school administrators in their decision to substitute equity for excellence.
Thank you Mark for bringing these actions into the light! You are a champion!
Christine: Thanks for your support.
Last year Stori Zimmerman,a solid no-nonsense educator ran for the school board. She got a large vote but still lost narrowly. In assessing her loss, it was discovered that only 30 per cent of registered republicans bothered to vote in the election. If just 10 percent more had voted, she would have won. Because the county is so heavily democratic, many feel voting is pointless. We need to change our thinking.
Jaime: You are 100% correct.
Great article, Mark. Will be interesting to see who the new principal will be. Fairfax County students and parents are so lucky to have you as their watchdog.