Elizabeth Schultz, who represents the Springfield District, says she’s planning to leave in the middle of a Thursday night Fairfax County school board discussion on why one-third of students at the county’s best public school are struggling in math, science or both.
It’s not that she doesn’t care, Schultz told The Washington Examiner Thursday afternoon — in fact, she wants to see dramatic changes to the admissions process at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology — but she has a dinner with “powers that be” who also have a stake in Thomas Jefferson.
“If we don’t resolve this at the Fairfax County level, it has to be resolved elsewhere,” said Schultz, noting that “TJ” belongs to the Virginia Governor’s School Program, established to give gifted students opportunities beyond their home schools. “That’s formed under an umbrella that’s not Fairfax County.”
Schultz declined to say more about her dinner, but did say that she believes the TJ admissions process is broken.
“It’s my objective to overhaul and improve it. The fact that we have 11 sections of remediation in math right now does not bode well,” she said.
An elite magnet school focused on math and science, TJ has consistently been ranked the No. 1 public school in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. This year, it fell to second.
The Washington Examiner first reported that one-third of freshmen at TJ has been recommended for remedial math, science or both, according to a letter from seven teachers.
Admissions director Tanisha Holland began investigating the admissions process, while Principal Evan Glazer implemented summer programs and pre-finals help sessions for struggling students.
