Saw this interesting statistic in the Washington Post... It seems that this fall, Asian American students will outnumber white classmates for the first time in the freshman class at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, the region's most prestigious and competitive public magnet school: At Magnet School, An Asian Plurality.
More than 2,500 applicants applied for 485 seats at the school. Asian American students got 219, or 45 percent of the total, while white students got 205, or 42 percent. About 38 percent of the school's students were Asian American in the past school year. Fewer than one in 10 residents in the Washington region is Asian American. Though in Fairfax, where most of the school's students come from, people of Asian descent account for 16 percent of the population, according to census data.
The story explores some of the possible reasons for this demographic shift, as well as the rising debate at colleges and top magnet high schools as the number of Asian American applicants continues to rise. Sooner or later, you're going to come across the growing sentiment that there are "too many Asians at this school." This isn't the first time the issue has been raised, and it sure as hell won't be the last.
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