National Anti-Common Core Statement on the State School Chiefs’ Letter Regarding Data Privacy

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 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

*Advocates for Academic Freedom

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

*Idaho Eagle Forum

Idahoans for Local Education

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

               *Stop Common Core 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

NORTH DAKOTA

    *Stop Common Core in North Dakota

OREGON

Parent Led Reform Oregon

SOUTH CAROLINA

      *Parents Involved in Education

SOUTH DAKOTA

South Dakota Against Common Core

TENNESSEE

*Tennessee Against Common Core

*Tennessee Eagle Forum

TEXAS

Parent Led Reform Texas

*Texas Eagle Forum

UTAH

     *Utahns Against Common Core

     *Utah Eagle Forum

VIRGINIA

Stop Common Core in Virginia

WEST VIRGINA

    * West Virginia Against Common Core

WASHINGTON

Washington State Against Common Core Standards

Bottom of Form WYOMING

 Wyoming Freedom in Education

This statement continues to garner support across the country.  An * indicates organizations that signed on after the statement was first released.