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Thursday, March 28, 2024 - 04:22 PM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

One of the unconstitutional and frightening aspects of the controversial education standards called Common Core is the Part that requires collection of personal information on every child throughout their school years. In violation of current federal law, the data is fed into a national data bank.

Now both houses of the Republican led Congress are attempting to ram an act through Congress that would allegedly legalize the data collection,  storage and use of personal data on children and their families by the Federal Government.

American Principles in Action (APIA) is calling on Congress to oppose S. 227, the Strengthening Education Through Research Act (SETRA), which would violate the privacy of millions of students and parents.

APIA is blasting Congress for attempting to rush the act through both houses of Congress as early as this week without even holding hearings.

“SETRA is dangerous legislation that would expand federal psychological profiling of children through expanding research on ‘social and emotional learning,’” said Jane Robbins, Senior Fellow at American Principles in Action.

“It would facilitate sharing of education statistics across states and agencies. It would continue to rely on the now-gutted FERPA statue to protect student data. SETRA must be defeated to protect student privacy rights,” Dr. Robbins concluded.

Emmett McGroarty, Director of Education at APIA  said, “Leadership is betraying the Constitution and the American people by rushing this bill through. Having so blithely disrespected the American people, it is difficult to see how they will ever regain their trust.”

APIA has expressed three major objections to SETRA:

1. SETRA reauthorizes ESRA, the Education Sciences Reform Act, first passed in 2002, which facilitates intrusive data collection on students. ESRA began the idea of state longitudinal databases, which created the structure that would facilitate a de facto national student database. ESRA also eliminated previous penalties for sharing and otherwise misusing student data.

2. SETRA allows for psychological profiling of our children, raising serious privacy concerns. Section 132, page 28 of SETRA: “...and which may include research on social emotional learning, and the acquisition of competencies and skills,  including the ability to think  critically, solve complex problems, evaluate evidence, and communicate effectively....”

This means the federal government will continue to promote collection of students’ psychological dossiers on our children.

3. SETRA depends on FERPA to protect student privacy, legislation that is now outdated and has been gutted by regulation. FERPA, the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, passed in 1974, and is no longer sufficient to protect student privacy in the age of technology. Even worse, the Obama Administration gutted FERPA so that it no longer offers the protection it once did.

American Principles in Action is a 501 © (4) organization dedicated to preserving and propagating the fundamental principles on which our country was founded. It aims to return our nation to an understanding that governance via these timeless principles will strengthen us as a country.

APIA may be reached by phone at (202) 503-2010.

 

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