THOMAS Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, or TJ as it's affectionately known to both current students and the 400-plus alumni who populate the University, has a problem. The problem isn't with the magnet school's academics: Jefferson's average SAT score (1478) and the number of National Merit semifinalists (170) were both the highest in the nation in 2003. Athletics aren't to blame either: The girls' swim team has won three straight state titles, and the boys' cross-country team was the state champion last year. The problem with Jefferson, according to the Fairfax County School Board, politicians and a recent blue-ribbon commission convened to study the school's admissions, is demographics. Black and Hispanic enrollment make up a combined 3 percent of the school's enrollment, but represent 26 percent of the overall student population in the county. In today's age of racial politics and diversity-above-all mindset, such a disparity is intolerable. What's truly intolerable, however, is the relentless pursuit, whether overt or covert, to install race as a factor for use in the school's admissions.
The blue-ribbon commission sought to address a lack of diversity in both the applicant pool and actual enrollment. Efforts to increase applicant pool diversity, including increased communication and community outreach should be applauded, and indeed at a June 21 town meeting on the issue, most in attendance voiced favor to increase such efforts.
The commission and those in favor of greater "diversity" at Jefferson go awry in their arguments with regards to increasing diversity in enrollment. The first problem is diversity itself, that nefarious buzzword that seems to permeate any conversation on higher education. What the politicians and the diversity-peddlers don'tmention is that Jefferson is already diverse. During my four years at the school, students of a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds worked together in a wonderful learning environment. More importantly, true diversity, that of ideas and viewpoints, ran through the school like an electric current. But these types of diversity are the wrong types according to the detractors; diversity to them is nothing but boosting the level of black and Hispanic students at the school through whatever means possible.
Again, Jefferson has an over-represented white and Asian population, and underrepresented black and Hispanic population. To the critics, this means that the admissions process must be unjust and in dire need of reform.
The school currently utilizes a formula using standardized test scores and middle school GPA to create an applicant pool of 800 semifinalists. From there, roughly 425 finalists are chosen for admission. These mostly objective criteria ensure that TJ maintains its excellent academic status. Reforms to the process, such as eliminating the required use of test scores and GPA in selection and dramatically increasing the use of subjective criteria such as teacher recommendations will lead to a fairly convoluted exercise in which a low test score and GPA can be dismissed for potential. Jefferson is a science and technology magnet school for a reason and the school's mission can easily be undermined in the name of diversity.
There is little question as to what will happen if the school board enacts reforms in the selection process. By requiring each applicant to report their race, using race as a factor in constructing selection committees and allowing the committees to take race into account, the process will introduce a covert race-based admission system and indeed boost black and Hispanic enrollment. However, many of these students will be less academically qualified than their peers. Worse, those minorities who are qualified may be left pondering whether they gained admittance on their own merit or on skin color.
Many on the blue-ribbon commission defend such reforms by stating these changes are the norm for schools like Jefferson. Yet the nationally-renowned Bronx High School of Science, and Stuyvesant High School of New York City base their admissions solely on a written test similar to Jefferson's. The choice is either maintaining academic excellence or sacrificing it in the name of diversity. It's clear that the two are not compatible in an objective-based admissions setting.During the school's nearly 20-year history, the only time the two were achieved was when the school was using an active race-based admissions policy before it was struck down in the late 1990s.
A race-based admissions policy is not what the students and parents of Jefferson want. A June 14 PTA meeting almost unanimously vetoed any support for the commission's findings. The June 21 town meeting was marked by angry responses decrying the school board's attempts to vote on the reforms over the summer, when many students and parents are out of town or out of touch. While low numbers of black and Hispanic students are a concern, implementing a race-based admission system, especially against the will of the majority of students, their parents and alumni of the school is certainly not the solution.
Joe Schilling is a Cavalier Daily columnist. He can be reached at jschilling@cavalierdaily.com.
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