In a move that sidesteps a potential showdown over race and education, the Supreme Court opted not to engage in a divisive debate by rejecting a challenge to an admissions policy at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, Virginia, on Tuesday.
The policy, implemented in 2022, aimed at fostering diversity, has sparked controversy due to its alleged impact on the enrollment of Asian American students.
The admissions policy omits consideration of standardized test scores and ensures placements for high-performing students from various middle schools in the county. Officials claim the policy is race-neutral. However, dissenting conservative justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas argued that the court should have struck down the policy.
“We should wipe the decision off the books,” Alito wrote, expressing his disagreement with the lower court’s ruling that allowed the admissions process to continue.
Some argued that the recent changes in the admissions policy led to a noticeable shift in demographics at the highly selective public high school. The number of Asian American students declined, while Black and Latino student enrollment increased. According to the most recent demographics for the 2023-2024 school year, Jefferson High tallied 65.6% Asian students, 19.7% white students, 6.1% Latinx students, and 4% African American students.
Coalition for TJ, a group opposing the school’s policy, filed a lawsuit alleging that the plan was implemented with the intent to “racially balance the freshman class by excluding Asian-Americans.” The challengers argue that the policy violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which mandates equal application of the law to everyone. They contend that similar plans in other high schools pursue a racial objective while appearing race-neutral.
In response, the school board defended the policy, asserting it “removes both socioeconomic and geographic barriers” through race-neutral and blind criteria.
The decision follows the Supreme Court’s earlier move to end the consideration of race in college admissions, which occurred last June. In that ruling, the court invalidated admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, sparking renewed debate on affirmative action.
Before the Supreme Court’s involvement, a federal judge ruled against the Fairfax County School Board in the Virginia case. In April 2022, the Supreme Court rejected a request to immediately implement the district court judge’s ruling. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the district court decision in May 2023, a month before the Supreme Court decided on race considerations in college admissions. Coalition for TJ appealed to the Supreme Court, leading to the recent decision to decline the challenge.
