It’s unconstitutional for Fairfax County to discriminate against Asian-American students

Last week, Pacific Legal Foundation sent a letter to the members of the Fairfax County School Board strongly urging them to consider the U.S. Constitution when they vote on proposed changes to the admissions process at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ), one of the nation’s best and most competitive STEM high schools.

The proposed admissions changes would result in at least a 20% decrease in the number of Asian-American students admitted to TJ—the only racial category to experience a decrease. This result would achieve Fairfax County Public School’s (FCPS) and Thomas Jefferson High officials’ stated goal for FCPS to make TJ’s racial demographics match that of Fairfax County. Unfortunately for them, this is also racial balancing, and it’s unconstitutional.

The promise of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution is that the government must treat individuals as individuals, not as members of a group based on characteristics like skin color.  The Fairfax County School Board should remember that when it votes.