SAY NO TO NATIONAL “DATA SYSTEM”! #PLEASE Tell our Congressperson to vote no on CTA. #SHARE
Click here to tell Congress not to pass the CTA
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The federal student data system embedded in this bill is only one conference committee away from President Biden signing into law.
“The College Transparency Act moving swiftly through Congress now aims to collect and share highly personal information about every college student without their consent or ability to opt-out.
According to the bill, the student-level data the federal government collects will include “student-related surveys,” race or ethnicity, age, sex, attendance, program of study, military or veteran benefit status, enrollment, and credential status, distance education enrollment status, and federal Pell Grant status.
Wait, that’s not all.
“[A]dditional data” will be collected and tracked, including but not limited to, economic status, participation in remedial coursework, status as a parent of dependent children, incarceration or confinement status, disability status, and “other” undefined data to be collected as the government later deems necessary.
Notably, biometric data, personality data, and behavioral data collection such as facial expression, threat and risk scores, predictive analytics, and social-emotional data are not prohibited in this bill. The CTA also has language that specifically allows third parties to sell student data (page 58): “nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to prohibit third-party entities from using publicly-available information in this data system for commercial purposes.”
The information in this proposed student data system must also be matched and shared with the U.S. Department of Defense, the Social Security Administration, the Census Bureau, the Office of Federal Student Aid (even if the student did not apply for aid), the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Thanks to loopholes and exceptions in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), these federal agencies can then further disclose student data with other approved agencies and businesses as allowed by law.
In 2011, longtime U.S. Education Department attorney turned lucrative consultant Steve Winnick underscored the importance of denying parents the opportunity to opt-out by declaring, “We don’t want parents to get in the way,” during a Data Quality Campaign webinar, Winnick’s 2009 email to Aimee Guidera, then of the Data Quality Campaign, detailed their (later adopted) proposed FERPA revisions, making it less restrictive and allowing for more disclosures and State Longitudinal Data Systems. In 2011, the Data Quality Campaign again suggested amendments to make FERPA less restrictive on data disclosures.
The Obama/Biden administration removed informed consent and weakened FERPA in 2008 and 2011, despite much opposition and a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education. That lawsuit noted “the illegality of the agency’s reinterpretation of the statutory terms “authorized representative,” “education program,” and “directory information.”
Fast-forward to November 2021: The Gates-funded Data Quality Campaign and Chiefs for Change promoted the creation of a national student data system.”
H/T Cheri Kiesecker