The Department of Education opened a civil rights investigation into Virginia’s Fairfax County Public Schools over concerns that its new admissions policy for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology illegally discriminated against Asian American students.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced the investigation on Thursday, which will be conducted in conjunction with scrutiny from the Justice Department into TJ. The announcement of the investigation came the day after Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced his office found FCPS guilty of intentionally discriminating against American students through the admissions policy, which he said violated the Virginia Human Rights Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Miyares referred the case to the Education Department on Wednesday, saying the admissions policy was “not about expanding opportunity,” but about “excluding and eliminating based on race.”
