WASHINGTON – Steadfastly opposed to federal bureaucrats rewriting
education and student privacy policies without congressional approval,
Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Txas 36) signed on to a letter authored by Rep.
Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO 3) to Education Secretary Arne Duncan demanding
information regarding the implementation of these new policies and the
authority under which the Education Department has acted.
Dating
back to the 1960s, Congress has authorized and allocated funding for
K-12 education policy through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(ESEA) – the primary vehicle for education reform on the federal level.
The letter notes since ESEA’s most recent expiration the Education
Department has, without any Congressional input, moved forward with
Common Core standards by enticing states with grants and waivers to
adopt Common Core standards.
“Since the ESEA’s expiration, the
Department of Education has moved forward with education policy reform
without Congressional input. Such action is, at best, in contravention
with precedent,” read the letter signed by Stockman and 33 other members
of the House of Representative. “We believe that state-based education
policies are vital to the successful education of a child. As with
most one-size-fits-all policies, Common Core standards fail to address
the specific needs of our states.”
The letter also addresses two
changes in which the government collects and distributes student data.
Members of Congress request a detailed description of each change to
student privacy policy that has been made during Duncan’s tenure and the
need and intended purpose for such changes. Of particular concern were
regulatory changes made without congressional review regarding parental
access to student education records and limiting third party disclosure
of that information.
“We also request that you submit to us the
authority under which the Department has implemented Common Core and
altered polices on student policy…” the letter asks.
Below is the text of the House letter to Duncan:
The Honorable Arne Duncan
Secretary
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202
Dear Secretary Duncan,
As
you know, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) allows
Congress to authorize and allocate funding for public K-12 education
and, most importantly, is the primary vehicle in which we implement
education policy reform. Most recently reauthorized through the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), the ESEA’s authorization expired
on September 30, 2008, and has yet to be reauthorized. Since the ESEA’s
expiration, the Department of Education (Department) has moved forward
with education policy reform without Congressional input. Such action
is, at best, in contravention with precedent.
In addition to
expressing our concern with the Department’s circumvention of Congress
to reform education policy, we are writing you to express our concerns
with the implementation of Common Core standards and changes to federal
data collection and disbursement policies.
In 2009, forty-six
governors signed a memorandum of understanding with the National
Governor’s Association committing their states to the development and
adoption of new education standards within three years. As we
understand it, states then had the option of adopting Common Core
standards or creating their own equivalent standards. At the time,
Common Core standards were simply an idea where states would collaborate
to create uniformed education standards. Details about Common Core
were not only unknown to the states, they did not exist. From there,
the Department offered Race To The Top (RTTT) grants and NCLB waivers to
states under the condition that each state would implement “college and
career ready” standards. At the time, the only “college and career
ready” standards with the Department’s approval were Common Core.
In
addition to serious concerns we have regarding the Department’s
aforementioned coercion of states to opt-in to Common Core standards,
many of which were and continue to have serious budgetary issues and
specific issues with existing education policies, we have become
increasingly concerned over the development of the Common Core standards
themselves. Though initially promoted as state-based education
standards, Common Core standards, as they have been developed over the
last few years, are nothing of the sort. In just one very troubling
instance, Common Core standards will replace state-based standardized
testing with nationally-based standardized testing, the creation and
initial implementation of which will be funded in full by the federal
government. The long-term, annual administering of the exams, the cost
of which has not been specified by the Department, is to be funded by
the states.
As representatives from states across the nation, we
understand the diverse cultures and state-specific education needs that
exist in America. We believe that state-driven education policy is
vital to the success of our children and that Members of Congress can
best demonstrate the specific needs of their constituents. As with most
one-size-fits-all policies, Common Core standards fail to address these
needs.
As you know, because states opted-in to Common Core
standards, there is little Congress can do to provide any relief from
these burdensome and misguided standards. Instead, the ability to
opt-out of these standards lies with the state. With that in mind, we
will be working with our respective state legislatures and governors to
provide relief to our education systems. In the meantime, we urge you
to work with Members of Congress to reauthorize the ESEA in a manner
that allows state-specific education needs to be addressed.
Separate
from reauthorization, we are extremely concerned over recent changes
the Department has made to the manner in which the federal government
collects and distributes student data.
As you know, the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) was signed into law in 1974,
guaranteeing parental access to student education records and limiting
their disclosure to third parties. FERPA was intended to address
parents’ growing privacy concerns and grant parental access to the
information schools use to make decisions that impact their children.
Once
again circumventing Congress, in 2011 the Department took regulatory
action to alter definitions within FERPA. With the technological
advances that have occurred in recent years, changes to FERPA deserve
the full scrutiny of the legislative process more so than ever before.
In
addition, we understand that as a condition of applying for RTTT grant
funding, states obligated themselves to implement a State Longitudinal
Database System (SLDS) used to track students by obtaining personally
identifiable information.
Regarding these two very concerning
changes to the manner in which government collects and distributes
student data, we formally request a detailed description of each change
to student privacy policy that has been made under your leadership,
including the need and intended purpose for such changes.
In
addition, we request that you submit to us the authority under which the
Department has implemented Common Core and altered polices on student
policy, specifically relating to FERPA and SLDS.
It is our
sincere hope that the Department works with the Legislative Branch to
implement any changes to education standards and student privacy policy.
We look forward to your response and welcome the opportunity to
address these issues in the future.
