The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on Thursday initiated a Title VI investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) regarding significant revisions made in 2020 to the admissions policy at the prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ).
The federal probe was launched after Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares’ office concluded that FCPS’s new policy was designed to discriminate on the basis of race and subsequently referred the complaint to the Department of Education.
Attorney General Miyares’ report, released May 21, 2025, found that the Fairfax County School Board revised TJ’s admissions policies because it was dissatisfied with the school’s racial composition.
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The report further indicated that the elimination of standardized testing requirements and the implementation of a revised “holistic review” process, replacing a primarily meritocratic system, were intended to achieve racial balancing.
“Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax County has long had a reputation for producing some of our nation’s brightest minds, due in no small part to its rigorous admissions process,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “The Fairfax County School Board’s alleged decision to weigh race in TJ’s admissions decisions appears to be both contrary to the law and to the fundamental principle that students should be evaluated on their merit, not the color of their skin.” Secretary McMahon added, “The Department of Education is grateful for the diligent work of Governor Youngkin and Attorney General Miyares for documenting a pattern of concerning practices at TJ, and we will further investigate this complaint to ensure that all students being assessed fairly, according to merit and accomplishment.”
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin voiced strong support for the federal investigation. “Virginia students’ dreams were illegally denied because of their race. Not merit, but race. The Fairfax County School Board and administration dashed those dreams for many Asian American students by enacting an illegal admissions policy at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. A policy purposefully engineered to discriminate,” he stated. “I thank my teammate Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares for his investigation on behalf of so many Virginia kids. I am grateful that President Trump and Secretary McMahon are launching the federal investigation to ensure the civil rights of Virginia’s students are protected, as we all work together to eliminate illegal discrimination.”
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The referral to federal authorities followed a two-year investigation by the Virginia Attorney General’s office, which on May 21, 2025, released a finding of “reasonable cause” that FCPS is in violation of the Virginia Human Rights Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for discriminating against Asian American students.
According to the Virginia Attorney General’s office, “In 2020, the Fairfax County School Board overhauled Thomas Jefferson High School’s admissions process with the intention to deny Asian American students the opportunity to attend one of the [premier] public high schools in the United States.
hrough a series of written messages, they revealed their intention and amended their policies from a race-neutral, merit-based system to a ‘holistic’ approach designed to exclude one specific minority.” The AG’s office reported that FCPS “succeeded in their mission, reducing the percentage of Asian American students from 73% to 54% in just one year alone.”
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“In Virginia—and America—we do not uplift one group by tearing another down. We do not define individuals by the color of their skin.” Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares remarked. “My Office of Civil Rights found reasonable cause to believe the Fairfax County School Board’s overhaul of TJ’s merit-based admissions system was deliberately designed to reduce Asian American admissions. I have referred this matter to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Justice for full enforcement under applicable civil rights laws.”
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally funded education programs. The Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard significantly curtailed the ability of educational institutions to consider race in admissions policies. The OCR investigation will now examine whether FCPS’s actions violated these federal civil rights protections.
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