Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST)

More Relativity: How a big spread of cultural and socio-economic pockets across a school a district affects gifted programming issues and realities.

In early 2021, I was hired as an expert witness for a case between the Fairfax County, Virginia, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) and a group of parents with children already in the school or seeking entrance for the next academic year. The school wanted to end standardized testing for admissions to broaden the populations served by the school. The parent group sued to reinstate testing as part of the admissions process.

The school is one of two Governor’s Schools in the state, the other being in Richmond. Both are mandated as schools for gifted students and funded in large part by the state. The Fairfax County Public School District was in the unfortunate position of attempting to broaden the range and attributes of its student population in a district that was seriously skewed by race and socioeconomics.

I taught 4th-6th grades during the 1970s in nearby Alexandria Public Schools during the days of busing. Yes, the “Remember the Titans” days.[i] Bill Yoast and I were on the same bowling team. I had experience with this part of the country and teaching to classes with a very broad range of student backgrounds…