Education Week - March 9, 2022 - 3

Judge: Admissions Policy
At Elite School Is Illegal
Leaders of one of the best public schools in the country-if not the
best-may have to go back to the drawing board in revising their admissions
policies.
A federal judge ruled late last month that the Fairfax County, Va.,
school system discriminated against Asian Americans when it overhauled
the admissions policies at Thomas Jefferson High School for
Science and Technology, known as " TJ. "
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton found that
impermissible " racial balancing " was at the core of the plan at TJ,
which is routinely ranked at the top and is highly competitive.
In 2020, the school board scrapped a standardized test in favor of a
system that set aside equal numbers of TJ slots at each of the county's
middle schools, among other changes.
Hilton, in his ruling, wrote, " The discussion of admissions changes
was infected with talk of racial balancing from its inception. "
Although the school has enjoyed a stellar academic reputation for
decades, Black and Hispanic students were woefully underrepresented
in the student body.
TJ's current freshman class, the first to be accepted under the new
policies, reflects a significant change in racial makeup. Asian representation
decreased from 73 percent last year to 54 percent. Black
representation climbed from 1 percent to 7 percent, and Hispanic
from 3 percent to 11 percent.
The school system insisted its new policies are race-neutral; among
other things, officials noted that the panelists who evaluate applications
don't even know the race of the students they are evaluating.
They also argued that efforts to increase Black and Hispanic representation
are legally permissible as long as the school board had not
demonstrated a desire to harm Asian Americans.
A lawyer for the school system said the school board will consider
an appeal.
CYBERSECURITY
& SCHOOLS
Vol. 41 * Issue 25 * March 9, 2022
4 Will There Really Be
A Mass Exodus of Teachers?
6 Schools to Pilot AP African American
Studies Course Amid Upheaval
Over Teaching Race
8 Mask-Mandate Opponents Are
Bombarding Districts With
Insurance Requests. Here's Why
10 As Book Bans Spread, Suburban
Moms Who Oppose Them Are
Fighting Back
11 'COVID Is Not Over Us':
As Pandemic Lingers, a Texas
Mother's Dismay Deepens
12 Why Russia's Invasion of Ukraine
Is Relevant to Teachers
13 How to Help Students
Cultivate Hope When Worrisome
News Is Stressing Them Out
OPINION
14 Students Want
To Talk About Race
15 Do Parents Want Schools
To Be Able to Teach About Racism?
20 The New Problem Facing
Urban School Districts
DEPARTMENTS
2 Briefly Stated
5 What the Research Says
16 Letters to the Editor
18 EdWeek Top School Jobs
Parents Sue W.Va. District
Over Religious Assembly
Parents in West Virginia are calling a school district on the carpet-
actually to court-for forcing their children to be subjected to religious
proselytizing.
The parents and students are suing the Cabell County school district
for allowing an evangelical preacher to hold a religious-revival assembly
during the school day that some students were required to attend.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court last month on behalf of families
by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, says the school system has
a systematic history of disregarding the religious freedom of its students
and instituting Christian religious practices.
The suit follows a walkout at Huntington High School where more
than 100 students left their classrooms chanting, " Separate the church
and state, " and, " My faith, my choice. "
Calling it an honest mistake, a district spokesman said the assembly
was supposed to be voluntary, but two teachers brought their entire
classes.
Later, schools Superintendent Ryan Saxe said that the district is investigating
the revival event and that he believes some students' rights have
been violated. Saxe, who is named in the lawsuit, said district leaders
would not tolerate anyone forcing religious beliefs on others.
The complaint says that on Feb. 2, two Huntington High teachers escorted
their entire homeroom classes to an assembly hosted by evangelical
preacher Nik Walker.
Students, including a Jewish student who asked to leave but was not
permitted to do so, were instructed to close their eyes and raise their
arms in prayer, according to the suit. The teenagers were asked to give
their lives over to Jesus to find purpose and salvation. Students said they
were told that those who did not follow the Bible would go to " face eternal
torment. "
Freedom From Religion Foundation lawyers say that religious services-voluntary
or not- should not be allowed during school hours.
The foundation alleges it has written several legal complaint letters over
the course of years that the district has ignored.
VIDEO
How Schools Can
Prevent Costly
Cyberattacks
What kinds of cyberattacks
do schools face? And how
can they stop them from
happening?
Edw.link/CyberattackVideo
EXPLAINER
School
Cyberattacks,
Explained
What to know about
ransomware and denial-ofservice
attacks, and why
hackers target K-12 schools.
Edw.link/
CyberattackExplainer
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDE
Cyberattacks
Are on the Rise.
Here's How Schools
Should Respond
This timeline provides a
roadmap schools can follow
for responding to an attack.
edw.link/
CyberattacksGuide
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Education Week - March 9, 2022

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