US supreme will not hear case aimed at restricting education diversity policies

Justices turn away appeal arguing that elite Virginia public school’s admissions policy discriminated against Asian Americans

The US supreme court on Tuesday declined a chance to further restrict efforts to promote diversity in education, turning away an appeal by a coalition of parents and students who argued that an elite Virginia public school’s revised admissions policy racially discriminates against Asian Americans.

The justices left in place a lower court’s ruling rejecting the claim by the plaintiffs that the admissions policy at Thomas Jefferson high school for science and technology violates the US constitution’s 14th amendment equal protection guarantee. Asian Americans make up the majority of students at the school located in the Washington suburb of Alexandria.