The
case over how students are selected to attend Thomas Jefferson
High School for Science & Technology came to the court two
months after its conservative majority barred colleges and
universities from considering race as a factor in admissions.
But unlike the higher education cases, the admissions policy
adopted in 2020 by Virginia's Fairfax County School Board for
the state-chartered magnet high school was on its face race
neutral.
The Alexandria-based school, known as TJ, often ranks among the
best U.S. public high schools.
The board eliminated a standardized test from its admissions
process, capped the number of students from each of the
district's middle schools and guaranteed seats for the top
students from each.
After the overhaul, the share of Black and Hispanic students
increased, but the percentage of Asian-American students fell to
54% from 73% in the first year.
A parents group called Coalition for TJ, whose members include
Asian-Americans, sued, saying the policy was adopted with a
racially discriminatory purpose in violation of the equal
protection clause of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment.
In February 2022, U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton sided with
the parents' group lawyers at the libertarian Pacific Legal
Foundation.
In May, however, the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals reversed him, saying the board did not intend to
discriminate against Asian-Americans and had a legitimate
interest in "expanding the array of student backgrounds."
In Monday's petition asking the Supreme Court to hear the case,
the coalition's lawyers said the court's June decision ending
affirmative action in college admissions "might mean little if
schools could accomplish the same discriminatory result through
race-neutral proxies."
The school board's lawyer did not immediately respond to a
request for comment.
Last year the Supreme Court declined an emergency request to
block its policy, though three conservative justices dissented.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Clarence
Fernandez)
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