Posted on 12/25/2022 6:29:44 PM PST by chuckee
For years, two administrators at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) have been withholding notifications of National Merit awards from the school’s families, most of them Asian, thus denying students the right to use those awards to boost their college-admission prospects and earn scholarships. This episode has emerged amid the school district’s new strategy of “equal outcomes for every student, without exception.” School administrators, for instance, have implemented an “equitable grading” policy that eliminates zeros, gives students a grade of 50 percent just for showing up, and assigns a cryptic code of “NTI” for assignments not turned in. It’s a race to the bottom.
An intrepid Thomas Jefferson parent, Shawna Yashar, a lawyer, uncovered the withholding of National Merit awards. Since starting as a freshman at the school in September 2019, her son, who is part Arab American, studied statistical analysis, literature reviews, and college-level science late into the night. This workload was necessary to keep him up to speed with the advanced studies at TJ... Last fall, along with about 1.5 million US high school juniors, the Yashar teen took the PSAT, which determines whether a student qualifies as a prestigious National Merit scholar. When it came time to submit his college applications this fall, he didn’t have a National Merit honor to report — but it wasn’t because he hadn’t earned the award...
But TJ School officials had decided to withhold announcement of the award. Indeed, it turns out that the principal, Ann Bonitatibus, and the director of student services, Brandon Kosatka, have been withholding this information from families and the public for years, affecting the lives of at least 1,200 students...
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Alexandria, Virginia FWIW. Fairfax County Public School System.
You will all be happier in the long run accepting the fact that you are all equally stupid.
The teachers responsible should pay restitution to the students for the scholarships they might have won had the recognition been known. If their chances were 100:1 and it was a full ride to some university, take that university’s tuition/year, multiple by 4, and divide by 100 (e.g., $40,000 x 4 = $400,000 / 100 = $4,000). Each administrator would owe that student $4,000. Do similar calculations for the other schools he applied to. If this goes unpunished, it will continue to happen and happen again.
Wouldn’t it be “misinformation” if a student won an award but the principal withheld it?
Holy cow! Among the East Asian, South Asian and middle Eastern immigrants that send their kids to TJ, this is going to be bigger than the Loudoun County schools TG rapes.
A big Steelers fan!
That says it all.
That’s a man, baby . . .
If I was involved, I’d start by suing the principal and superintendent personally for the value of the lost scholarship. Harder to prove missed admissions to top ranked colleges because of no record of being a National Merit Scholar and subsequently lower career earnings.
And I’d fight them getting a discharge in bankruptcy.
These school administrators should be fired, jailed, and worse. This affects future of students. I hope at the minimum that they and the schools are sued into bankruptcy.
This story was posted earlier. Sorry, but it’s all baloney.
This school proudly publishes the names of its NMSC semifinalists and finalists. Anyone can see the names of the school’s 2023 semifinalists on the school’s website right here: https://www.fcps.edu/news/two-hundred-thirty-eight-fcps-students-are-2023-national-merit-semifinalists
This article is about “commended students” who score high, but not as high as semifinalists or finalists. Apparently, the school has been overlooking the commended students, and that’s wrong. But, the school has no trouble bragging about its students with the highest scores right on its website.
Zactly! This crap will not end until these a5540!35 feel the pain of a bad decision.
Confirmed! Acute case of "The Gayz."
Regards,
While whites certainly have reason to be angered by such policies Asians have an even better reason.
The teachers should demand that they, also, be treated with equity. For instance, if you show up for work, but don’t do any teaching, grading, or recording, you still get paid at least 50%, and of course, deadlines are racist.
She has a moustache.
With National Merit there is a 100% chance at a full scholarship at many universities. When my daughter was awarded hers in 2015, incredible offers came in from all over the country. Tuition, boarding, technology grants, foreign study stipends and more. Was an amazing money saver for me!
You sure that hasn’t simply been corrected recently?
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