FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
We the undersigned organizations, representing millions of families and teachers across the nation, issue the following statement in response to the January 23rd, 2014 letter by thirty-four chief state school officers, including Florida Commissioner Pam Stewart, to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan regarding student data privacy:
This letter is their attempt to reassure the public that individual student data would not be given to the federal government by the states in the federal testing consortia, that there is a prohibition on the creation of a national database, and that states will be in control of student assessment data.
Unfortunately, none of that is true. As is shown in the formal response to this letter by Dr. Karen Effrem, president of Education Liberty Watch and co-founder of the Florida Stop Common Core Coalition, the assurances in this letter are essentially meaningless. Current federal law and regulations, the cooperative agreement between the national testing consortia and the federal government, and statements in federal reports all show that the federal government will receive individual student data one way or the other.
"The letter is deceptive," said Effrem. "The states may not give the individual student test data to the federal government, but the cooperative agreement and the federal FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) regulations require or allow the consortia to give individual test and other student data to the feds without consent."
"This is just a bait and switch effort meant to appease worried parents and politicians that are feeling the heat from angry constituents," agreed Angela Davidson Weinzinger, founder of Parents and Educators Against Common Core.
As state and national grassroots organizations opposed to the implementation of the Common Core system of federally supported or controlled national standards, tests, and data collection that will be destructive to our children's future and our nation's freedom, we concur with this analysis.
The only way to truly protect our children's data is to restore local control of education that has been usurped by the unconstitutional presence and actions of the US Department of Education. Until that ultimate goal is reached, we will work to remove each of our states from the state longitudinal data systems and demand genuine state developed standards and assessments, instead of name changes, cosmetic adjustments to the Common Core standards, and deceptive reassurances about state control of test data.
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS:
Education Liberty Watch
Badass Parents Association
Badass Teachers Association
Home School Legal Defense Association
Parent-Led Reform
Parents and Educators Against Common Core
Special Ed Advocates to Stop Common Core
STATE ORGANIZATIONS:
ALABAMA
Alabama Eagle Forum
Alabamians United for Excellence in Education
ARKANSAS
Arkansas Against Common Core
COLORADO
Core Concerns, Fort Collins
CONNECTICUT
Stop Common Core in CT
FLORIDA
Florida Stop Common Core Coalition
Florida Parents Against Common Core
GEORGIA
Georgians to Stop Common Core
IDAHO
Idahoans for Local Education
INDIANA
Hoosiers Against Common Core
IOWA
Iowans for Local Control
KANSAS
Kansans Against Common Core
KENTUCKY
Parents and Educators Against Common Core Standards in Kentucky
MASSACHUSETTS
MA Parents Interested in Common Core
Massachusetts Coalition for Superior Education Standards
MICHIGAN
Stop Common Core in Michigan
MINNESOTA
Minnesotans Against Common Core
MISSOURI
Missouri Coalition Against Common Core
NEVADA
Parent Led Reform Nevada
NEW JERSEY
C5-NJ (the Committee to Combat the Common Core Curriculum-NJ)
NEW MEXICO
NM Refuse the Tests
NEW YORK
Stop Common Core in New York State
OREGON
Parent Led Reform Oregon
SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakotans Against Common Core
TEXAS
Parent Led Reform Texas
VIRGINIA
Stop Common Core in Virginia
WASHINGTON
Washington State Against Common Core Standards
WYOMING
Wyoming Freedom in Education
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