It is not surprising that Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, or TJ, has fallen again in the 2024 U.S. News World Report’s ranking of best public high schools.

This year, TJ is ranked 14th, down from 5th in 2023, and 1st for three years before that. Its premier ranking occurred when Fairfax County’s only magnet school’s admissions were based on merit, not on “equity.” With the last merit-based class graduating in June, we can expect to see the flagship institution wither away and disappear as it succumbs to its diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, cancer.