Agreement made to share student data with the Seattle Times and Associated Press–without parental notification or permission
April 24, 2014
In December 2013, a KUOW story revealed that the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction had signed an agreement to share student data with the Seattle Times and the Associated Press–without notification to parents or students. Not even Seattle Public Schools officials knew about this agreement.
The relaxing of FERPA regulations in 2011 has allowed more student data to be shared by more entities, without the school officials having to give notification to or receive permission from students or parents. Under the amended FERPA regulations data could cross geographic boundaries and could be shared with parties in other states, or even in other countries!
Another alarming find–Even though the FERPA amendment went into effect in 2011, some of the data shared with the Seattle Times and the Associated Press dated back to 2009. If data collected before the FERPA amendments can be shared, how far back into the past can data be retrieved and shared?
The FERPA changes were not enacted by Congress. They were implemented by the Department of Education, another example of the violation of the separation of powers. There is resulting concern in Congress. Read Democrat Senator Edward Markey’s letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan with questions about the FERPA changes.
The public’s attention is focused on Common Core State Standards, but meanwhile, damage is also being done elsewhere–with the sharing of data and also with the erosion of parents’ and students’ rights and the erosion of the the citizenry’s power to control the education of their children.
Tags: Race to the Top, data
In December 2013, a KUOW story revealed that the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction had signed an agreement to share student data with the Seattle Times and the Associated Press–without notification to parents or students. Not even Seattle Public Schools officials knew about this agreement.
The relaxing of FERPA regulations in 2011 has allowed more student data to be shared by more entities, without the school officials having to give notification to or receive permission from students or parents. Under the amended FERPA regulations data could cross geographic boundaries and could be shared with parties in other states, or even in other countries!
Another alarming find–Even though the FERPA amendment went into effect in 2011, some of the data shared with the Seattle Times and the Associated Press dated back to 2009. If data collected before the FERPA amendments can be shared, how far back into the past can data be retrieved and shared?
The FERPA changes were not enacted by Congress. They were implemented by the Department of Education, another example of the violation of the separation of powers. There is resulting concern in Congress. Read Democrat Senator Edward Markey’s letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan with questions about the FERPA changes.
The public’s attention is focused on Common Core State Standards, but meanwhile, damage is also being done elsewhere–with the sharing of data and also with the erosion of parents’ and students’ rights and the erosion of the the citizenry’s power to control the education of their children.
Tags: Race to the Top, data