Blacks, Hispanics still scarce in Thomas Jefferson's new class

Fairfax County’s nationally ranked magnet school inducted another class of students dominated by whites and Asians, while just 4 percent of students are black or Hispanic. Black and Hispanic students were also underrepresented in the pool of applicants to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology — 13.5 percent of applicants, despite making up 28.2 percent of the public school system’s middle school students.

The numbers
2015 admissions
	No. applied	No. admitted	Percentage of all admitted students
White	1,319	161	33.5%
Black	224	6	1.3%
Hispanic	222	13	2.7%
Asian	1,369	273	56.9%
Multiracial/Other	176	27	5.6%
2010 admissions
	No. applied	No. admitted	Percentage of all admitted students
White	1,338	254	50.10%
Black	145	10	1.97%
Hispanic	186	18	3.55%
Asian	960	192	37.87%
Multiracial/Other	159	33	6.51%

Fairfax County Public Schools has been fighting to close a persistent achievement gap between its black and Hispanic students and their white and Asian peers, who typically score higher on standardized tests and post higher graduation rates.