Student privacy at risk from feds—Emmett McGroarty & Jane Robbins - NYPOST.com Would it bother you to know that the federal Centers for Disease Control had been shown your daughter’s health records to see how she responded to an STD/teen-pregnancy-prevention program? How about if the federal Department of Education and Department of Labor scrutinized your son’s academic performance to see if he should be “encouraged” to leave high school early to learn a trade? Would you think the government was intruding on your territory as a parent? Under regulations the Obama Department of Education released this month, these scenarios could become reality. The department has taken a giant step toward creating a de facto national student database that will track students by their personal information from preschool through career. Although current federal law prohibits this, the department decided to ignore Congress and, in effect, rewrite the law. Student privacy and parental authority will suffer. How did it happen? Buried within the enormous 2009 stimulus bill were provisions encouraging states to develop data systems for collecting copious information on public-school kids. To qualify for stimulus money, states had to agree to build such systems according to federally dictated standards. So all 50 states either now maintain or are capable of maintaining extensive databases on public-school students. The administration wants this data to include much more than name, address and test scores. According to the National Data Collection Model, the government should collect information on health-care history, family income and family voting status. In its view, public schools offer a golden opportunity to mine reams of data from a captive audience. The department’s eagerness to get control of all this information is almost palpable. But current federal law prohibits a nationwide student database and strictly limits disclosure of a student’s personal information. So the department has determined that it can overcome the legal obstacles by simply bypassing Congress and essentially rewriting the federal privacy statute. Last April, the department proposed regulations that would allow it and other agencies to share a student’s personal information with practically any government agency or even private company, as long as the disclosure could be said to support an evaluation of an “education program,” broadly defined. That’s how the CDC might end up with your daughter’s health records or the Department of Labor with your son’s test scores. And you’d have no right to object — in fact, you’d probably never even know about the disclosure. Not surprisingly, these proposed regulations provoked a firestorm of criticism. But on Dec. 2, the Department of Education rejected almost all the criticisms and released the regulations. As of Jan. 3, 2012, interstate and intergovernmental access to your child’s personal information will be practically unlimited. The federal government will have a de facto nationwide database of supposedly confidential student information. The department says this won’t happen. If the states choose to link their data systems, it says, that’s their business, but “the federal government would not play a role” in operating the resulting megadatabase. This denial is, to say the least, disingenuous. The department would have access to the data systems of each of the 50 states and would be allowed to share that data with anyone it chooses, as long as it uses the right language to justify the disclosure. And just as the department used the promise of federal money to coerce the states into developing these systems, it would almost certainly do the same to make them link their systems. The result would be a nationwide student database, whether or not it’s “operated” from an office in Washington. The loosening of student-privacy protection would greatly increase the risks of unauthorized disclosure of personal data. Even the authorized disclosure would be limited only by the imaginations of federal bureaucrats. Unless Congress steps in and reclaims its authority, student privacy and parental control over education will be relics of the past.
Thanks for the post. As a physician, I have been burdened by the mostly absurd HIPAA patient privacy regulations for medical offices. Part of the frustration is the knowledge that it is the Federal Govt., in all of its innumerable bureaucracies, that is the WORST PRIVACY VIOLATOR IN HISTORY. Look at the laptops that go 'lost, stolen, misplaced' by gov't employees all the time--allowing access by anyone, divulging literally millions of data points on most of us. Face it, our Federal bureaucracy is beyond intrusive. I am not (at present) wearing a tin foil hat, but everything about our system is intrusive and corrupt. (If you do not believe me, Google "Echelon," and you will find an elite, joint US-British scheme to eavesdrop on ALL--ALL of our email and cellular phone communications. Nasty stuff--but all in the interest of "national security.") BTW, Echelon is up & running--no fairy tale, that! We are way, way, WAY BEYOND George Orwell's concerns of 1984.
Send your kids to private schools. Already is, for the most part. There's no "choice" really. I would like to see them "push" kids out earlier like other countries. I have a friend whose son dates a girl whose family is from S. Korea. She told them this occurs in 3rd grade. I find that to be WAY too early but there, they start grouping them. I think Japan turns 'em out in 8th. One group to work, other on to HS. Problem here is we'd turn out 80% until the parents realized it would happen and take it seriously, for the kids lucky enough to be living with their parent(s) and not grandparents/foster care.
Speaking of 1984....my favorite part and the part I think most reflects life today is his description of the "telescreen" voice going on and on about econcomic numbers/production, etc. Sounds like a great description of CNBC to me. Sure CNBC is a lot sexier but the idea is the same....they tell you how good everything is all the time, manipulate statistics and constantly come back and revise forecasts, what they will never do is tell you the truth. The best thing on CNBC is when they get somebody on there who says something that goes against the party line. They usually pull his ass off the air so quick it is hilarious. If I can find a good clip I'll post it.
"Parental control over education" is the downfall of our educational system. Parents should start with following up on homework and test scores. Once they get that part down, they should start participating in school functions and open their wallets for supplies, teacher's aides, etc. and leave the curriculum to the professionals.
Any parent who is actively involved in their childrens' education knows you most certainly cannot just leave it to the professionals. Considering how much liberal propaganda is passed off as "education", it's more important than ever for parents to be actively engaged in monitoring the "education" their kids are receiving. The problem isn't parental control in education, it's the millions of parents who use the school system as their day care center and nothing more.
The public school my kids go to are already teaching about obama and his accomplishments. You'd think that would take about a 5 min. lecture. Lol! Don't remember being taught about Reagan or Bush or Clinton for that matter. Just the current DIC.
"Parental control over education" isn't even in the same realm of "actively involved in their children's education". That's two completely different things like "cars" and "peanut butter". In fact, I even went a step further and outlined what parents should be doing. However, you just read the first sentence and then skipped right down to the last few words.
I had Reagan shoved down my throat and he was still a current event. It depends on the teachers, really. I don't care for them teaching their politics any more than I care for them teaching their religion and have chastised them for doing both. That's my job. They just need to stick with math, grammar and the like.
