WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Tuesday avoided a new controversy over race and education by rejecting a challenge to an admissions policy aimed at encouraging diversity in Virginia's high schools.
The high court's decision not to intervene in the case comes just months after the conservative court ended consideration of race in college admissions. It remains questionable whether the court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, has the votes to strike down admissions policies that lead to a more diverse class even though they do not explicitly consider race.
Two conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, dissented, saying the court should have struck down the policy.
“This decision should be wiped off the books,” Alito wrote of the lower court's decision to allow the admissions process to continue. He added that the Court of Appeals effectively concluded that “intentional racial discrimination is constitutional unless it is too severe.”
Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia said in a post on X that he was disappointed that the Supreme Court did not take up the case.
“This country was built on the idea of building a better future through hard work and determination, and we should recommit to that ideal. Admissions should be based on merit,” he added. Ta.
The latest incident involved Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology, a highly selective public high school in Fairfax County, Virginia, which implemented a new admissions policy in 2022.
The school maintains the policy, which guarantees spots to top students at various middle schools in the county without considering standardized test scores, is race-neutral.
“We have long believed that the new admissions process is constitutional and in the best interest of our students,” said Fairfax County School Board Chairman Carl Frisch.
This change resulted in a decline in the number of Asian American students and an increase in Black and Latino students.
A group opposed to the policy, called the Coalition for TJ, filed a lawsuit citing evidence that the plan was designed to “racially balance the freshman class by excluding Asian Americans.” Ta.
Challengers say the policy violates the 14th Amendment, which requires the law to apply equally to everyone.
“The Supreme Court missed an important opportunity to end race-based discrimination in K-12 admissions,” said Joshua Thompson, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
He said in court documents that the court decided the case because other high schools have adopted similar programs designed to “achieve racial objectives” while appearing ostensibly race-neutral. argued that it should be taken up.
Lawyers for the school board argued that the new policy “removes both socio-economic and geographic barriers” using standards that are “race-neutral and race-blind.”
In a June decision, the Supreme Court invalidated the admissions programs of Harvard University and the University of North Carolina on these grounds. Conservatives have long complained about affirmative action, which the Supreme Court upheld on narrow grounds.
Prior to the recent Supreme Court decision, a federal judge ruled against the Fairfax County Board of Education in a Virginia case.
In April 2022, the Supreme Court rejected the challengers' request for immediate implementation of the district court judge's decision.
The Richmond-based 4th Circuit Court of Appeals then ruled that the district court's The judgment was set aside. TJ Union then appealed to the Supreme Court.
