At Magnet School, An Asian Plurality

Yuqing Zhang will be a freshman at Thomas Jefferson in the fall. With him are his father, Ronald Zhang, and mother, Yehong Zhou. (Photo: Michael Alison Chandler/Post)
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On the high school level, more public magnet schools are adopting objective merit-based systems as race-based policies are being overturned in courts. A Chinese American student sued the San Francisco Unified School District in the 1990s after he was rejected from Lowell High, leading to a court decision that overturned the school system's quota-based admissions. And race preferences at Boston Latin, the Massachusetts city's most prestigious school, were struck down by a federal appeals court a decade ago in a case brought by the father of a white applicant who was rejected.

The Fairfax School Board has adjusted the T.J. admissions policy over time to reflect legal decisions and changing politics. An affirmative action policy that allowed racial and ethnic variations in academic benchmarks was abandoned in the late 1990s. Afterward, admissions of black and Hispanic students plummeted. In 2001, nine black or Hispanic students were admitted, down from nearly 50 in 1994, according to the board's Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee.

In 2004, the board adopted an admissions policy that takes racial and ethnic diversity into account as a "plus factor" but not a determining factor. Unlike the approach used by Stuyvesant High and the other specialized schools in New York, which relies primarily on standardized exam results, the T.J. admissions process weighs grade-point averages on a sliding scale with test scores in an initial screening. In the second round, the selection committee considers additional factors, including teacher recommendations and extracurricular activities that demonstrate interest in science and technology, as well as students' cultural background, economic status, sex or race.

Despite those changes and a weekend enrichment program meant to help prepare promising candidates from under-represented groups, admissions of Hispanic and black students have increased only slightly. The incoming class will have 10 Hispanic and nine African American students. The School Board is scheduled to review the admissions policy this month. Whether it will alter the policy is unclear, but the issue is sure to draw close attention from many parents.

Fluctuations in the demographic profile of the incoming freshman class could be attributed in part to a new eligibility requirement that applicants take first-year algebra by eighth grade, said Judith Howard, the school's admissions director. The demographics of the incoming class may vary slightly on the first day of school because, among other variables, some applicants who recently moved to the area may be admitted.

Minority advocates and education experts say raising black and Hispanic enrollment at T.J. must be a long-term effort.

"If you have been behind the eight ball since kindergarten," an admissions policy or a middle school preparation program is not going to help much, said John Johnson, a member of the minority student oversight committee. He said parents and communities must push as soon as possible to put students on a faster academic track.

Many Asian American students in Fairfax have strong, early academic encouragement from families and communities, particularly in math and science. Many pursue extracurricular academic activities, receive private tutoring and pay for preparation courses before the T.J. entrance exam.

Another member of T.J.'s Class of 2012 will be Seiyoung Jang, 15, who moved from Seoul to Atlanta when she was 11 when her father took a job there. Her father returned to Korea a few years later, but her mother stayed so Seiyoung and her brother could continue their U.S. education.

They moved to Northern Virginia in part so Seiyoung could apply to the renowned magnet school.

"I heard T.J. was famous for education courses and high opportunities," said her mother, Mejung Kim.