Former assistant principal sues schools

Fairfax County (Map, News) - A former Fairfax County assistant principal is suing school officials in federal court, arguing he was passed over for promotion because of his race.

Ting-Yi Oei, who is part Chinese, alleges he was discriminated against during the process of selecting a principal for Mountain View Alternative High School. A hearing set for Friday will determine whether the case goes to trial.

The 58-year-old Oei, a veteran teacher and administrator who now works in Loudoun County schools, said he resigned from the Fairfax school system two years ago after realizing he couldn’t advance. In an interview with The Examiner Monday, he pointed to incidents in recent years as evidence of racism that permeated the selection process.

In 2002, Oei, after unsuccessfully competing for several positions around the county, contacted an assistant superintendent to discuss his trouble advancing his career.

The administrator relayed information he received from school officials who had interviewed Oei, who then served as an assistant principal at Mountain View.

He told Oei: “You have three strikes against you: You’re short, Asian and Quaker,” according to the lawsuit.

Oei argues his stature, race and religion fueled a stereotype that he would have difficulty functioning as an authority figure.

Later, during a 2004 interview with a nine-member community advisory panel for an open principal position at Mountain View, he remembers a panelist refusing to pronounce his name, instead calling him “Mr. T.” Oei worked at Mountain View from 1998 until, he said, he was pressured to leave, to make way for a candidate being groomed for advancement.

While Asians constitute the largest minority of Fairfax County students at about 18 percent, Oei said those numbers are largely underrepresented in administrators and the review panels that select new principals.

“I think there is a blind spot toward the Asian community,” Oei said. “There is ... very little attempt made to try to represent that Asian population in any degree that is truly a part of the school system.”

The school system hopes to have the case thrown out before trial, arguing Oei has failed to prove any discrimination and that the man selected as principal of Mountain View was better qualified.

“Unable to contest these material facts, Oei scrapes together a curious jumble of arguments that are not supported by the law or evidence,” a school reply memo stated.

wflook@dcexaminer.com

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