The chief civil rights attorney in the Virginia Attorney General’s Office sent a scathing letter today to the principal at Cooper Middle School, demanding the principal “cease and desist” racial discrimination in a college prep program run by Fairfax County Public Schools, rebuking the principal for violating state human rights laws and federal civil rights laws.
On Monday, the Fairfax County Times disclosed for the first time that staff at Cooper Middle School sent parents a letter on March 1, inviting eighth graders sign up for college prep with the school district’s College Partnership Program if they were “Black or African American students” or “Hispanic students, of one or more race.”
The program explicitly doesn’t mention Asian or white students as qualified for the program.
“It’s shocking that we continue to find such blatant examples of racial and ethnic discrimination in the Fairfax County Public School System,” Miyares said in a statement. “Every student should be able to apply for the College Partnership Program and have the same opportunities as their peers, regardless of race.”
“I demand that Cooper Middle School, its administrators, and anyone involved in this program stop this illegal discrimination immediately,” Miyares continued.
Earlier this week, a Fairfax County Public Schools spokeswoman, Kathleen Miller, denied the program is racist and said it is “open to everyone/anyone.” On the school district’s official website, the…
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