Youngkin Rips Fairfax County Schools for Failing to Notify Students of National Merit Recognition: ‘Maniacal Focus on Equal Outcomes for All Students at All Costs’

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) said the failure of high schools in Fairfax County to notify students of their National Merit Scholarship program recognition is due to the district’s “maniacal focus on equal outcomes for all students at all costs.”

In an interview Friday with ABC 7News, Youngkin commented on the acknowledgement by seven high schools in Fairfax County that they did not inform students of their recognition in time for their college scholarship and admission deadlines.

The governor explained the significance of school officials’ failure to inform the students of their recognition by the National Merit Scholarship Competition (NMSC):

It impacts their ability to apply to college for scholarships, and in this idea of a golden ticket as it is called was withheld from them and it seems to have been withheld from them for the purpose of not wanting to make people feel bad who didn’t achieve it. And all of a sudden, we see it spreading around to the rest of Fairfax County.

Youngkin rebuked Fairfax County Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid for her chief emphasis on equity, i.e., equality of outcomes, and spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on equity consultants who train district staff in the woke trend.

“The reality is that we have a superintendent in Fairfax schools who has explicitly stated that her top objective is equal outcomes for all students, regardless of the price,” Youngkin said, adding:

Now we know the price includes paying $450,000 to a liberal consultant to come in and teach the administrators in Fairfax County how to do this. What it appears happened is that principals in schools decided that they were going to systematically withhold accolades and a path to college admission and scholarships from high-performing students.

“They have a maniacal focus on equal outcomes for all students at all costs,” the governor said of FCPS. “And at the heart of the American dream, is excelling, is advancing, is stretching and recognizing that we have students that have different capabilities.”

“Some students have the ability to perform at one level, others need more help, and we have to allow students to run as fast as they can to dream the biggest dreams they can possibly dream and then go get them,” he asserted.

The governor added educational standards in Virginia had been lowered under past administrations, leading to even lower levels of achievement for children from struggling families:

And then coupled with the learning loss from COVID, Virginia’s kids performed worse in the nation and learning loss in fourth-grade reading and tied for worse in fourth-grade math. This overarching effort for equal outcomes is hurting Virginia’s children and it’s hurting, even worse, the children that they aspire to help – children in the black community and children in the Hispanic community and children who are in the socio-economically challenged community and Virginia’s kids with disabilities. They have in fact suffered even more.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) told Fox News last week the NMSC scandal will be part of the ongoing investigation into the move by FCPS to hire the equity consultant who urged the district to “demand equal outcomes – even if it means treating students unequally.”

Miyares continued his office is attempting to assess whether Asian American students, in particular, are being discriminated against in the district.

As WTOP News reported, angry parents are claiming the schools’ failure to notify students of their NMSC achievements is an attempt to discriminate against Asian American students.

Miyares observed the percentage of Asian students at Thomas Jefferson High School has declined while the number of black and Hispanic students has increased.

The schools in Fairfax County below, which represent 25 percent of the high schools in the county, failed to inform their students who achieved recognition by the NMSC:

• Annandale High School
• West Potomac High School
• John R. Lewis High School
• Edison High School
• Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Westfield High School
• Langley High School

According to ABC 7News, Reid reportedly said she met with parents last week at Thomas Jefferson, Westfield, and Langley high schools.

“In each case, it’s my understanding principals sign certificates and pass those to staff who distribute them,” Reid said she told parents.

The superintendent apparently said in an email to the community that Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is continuing its own investigation into the matter and will make its findings transparent.

ABC 7News reported regarding FCPS response:

Fairfax County Public Schools explained the error had to do with commended students. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation explains those students can’t continue in the competition for National Merit Scholarships but some can compete for special scholarships sponsored by corporations and businesses.

“[T]he district said in a statement counselors sent emails and made follow-up calls to the colleges where these students had applied and informed them once they were aware of the mistake,” the report noted.

The mission of the NMSC, according to its website, is to “recognize and honor the academically talented students of the United States.”

“NMSC accomplishes its mission by conducting nationwide academic scholarship programs,” whose “enduring goals” are:

• To promote a wider and deeper respect for learning in general and for exceptionally talented individuals in particular
• To shine a spotlight on brilliant students and encourage the pursuit of academic excellence at all levels of education
• To stimulate increased support from individuals and organizations that wish to sponsor scholarships for outstanding scholastic talent

NMSC explains the process by which high-scoring student achievers are selected:

1,500,000 Entrants. In October 2022, U.S. high school students who take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) and meet other program requirements will enter the 2024 competition for National Merit Scholarship Program recognition and scholarships. Nearly all program participants (entrants) will be juniors planning to enter college in 2024. NMSC® uses PSAT/NMSQT Selection Index scores (calculated by doubling the sum of the Reading, Writing and Language, and Math Test scores) to determine 50,000 high-scoring participants who qualify for program recognition.

In April 2023, NMSC will ask high school principals to identify any errors or changes in the reported eligibility of these 50,000 students whose scores will qualify them for recognition in the fall of 2023.

“How you pay for college can be as stressful as getting into college,” Miyares told 7News. “The idea that sometimes these are $90,000-100,000 plus benefits of scholarships that were never going to be told that these students are eligible to apply for. That’s wrong.”

The Star News Network reached out to Fairfax County Public Schools for comment and is awaiting a response.

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Susan Berry, PhD is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Glenn Youngkin” by Glenn Youngkin. Background Photo “Classroom” by Ajenw. CC BY-SA 4.0.