Student Database Raises Alarms
From Reuters, well, I'll let their headline say it all: "K-12 Student Database Jazzes Tech Startups, Spooks Parents." (Bold mine)
An education technology conference this week in Austin, Texas, will clang with bells and whistles as startups eagerly show off their latest wares.
But the most influential new product may be the least flashy: a $100 million database built to chart the academic paths of public school students from kindergarten through high school.
In operation just three months, the database already holds files on millions of children identified by name,
An education technology conference this week in Austin, Texas, will clang with bells and whistles as startups eagerly show off their latest wares.
But the most influential new product may be the least flashy: a $100 million database built to chart the academic paths of public school students from kindergarten through high school.
In operation just three months, the database already holds files on millions of children identified by name,
Complete Letter to AG about 1240
Here's the complete letter sent to Attorney General Bob Ferguson's office by the League of Women Voters, El Centro de la Raza, and the WEA. From the first paragraph:
We request that your office investigate and promptly institute legal proceedings to remedy the constitutional violations arising from ...(it continues on with the RCWs in question).
Specifically, the Charter School Act improperly diverts public school funds to private non-profits in violation of the Washington Constitution and is otherwise unconstitutional on multiple grounds, including but not limited to the following:
And then they put forth their arguments. Here's my summation:
- the "common schools" wording in the Constitution seems at odds with charter schools. It states the definition as "that is common to all children of proper age and capacity, free, and subject to, and under the control of the qualified voters of the school district." Well, a school controlled by a private board and/or overseen by an appointed commission is not under the control of voters.
- "general and uniform system of public schools" - obviously charters are not uniform in the manner that regular schools are. I find this a weak argument. as education often tries to give more options in order to reach as many students as possible. Passing a law to further that objective has happened before.
- violates the "paramount duty". "The Charter School Act interferes with the State's progress toward compliance
We request that your office investigate and promptly institute legal proceedings to remedy the constitutional violations arising from ...(it continues on with the RCWs in question).
Specifically, the Charter School Act improperly diverts public school funds to private non-profits in violation of the Washington Constitution and is otherwise unconstitutional on multiple grounds, including but not limited to the following:
And then they put forth their arguments. Here's my summation:
- the "common schools" wording in the Constitution seems at odds with charter schools. It states the definition as "that is common to all children of proper age and capacity, free, and subject to, and under the control of the qualified voters of the school district." Well, a school controlled by a private board and/or overseen by an appointed commission is not under the control of voters.
- "general and uniform system of public schools" - obviously charters are not uniform in the manner that regular schools are. I find this a weak argument. as education often tries to give more options in order to reach as many students as possible. Passing a law to further that objective has happened before.
- violates the "paramount duty". "The Charter School Act interferes with the State's progress toward compliance
