Education Department Opens Investigations Into Three California Districts Over Student Surveys and Parental Consent
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education's Student Privacy Policy Office announced on October 23 that it has opened investigations into three California school districts: North Monterey County Unified, Palo Alto Unified and San Francisco Unified. The department said surveys administered to students in the districts covered sensitive topics including gender, sexual orientation, race, family finances and immigration status, and may have been given without informed parental consent.
According to the department, the surveys included so-called "privilege inventory" questions asking students to respond about their own backgrounds. The investigations will examine whether the practices violated the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), which requires schools to notify parents and allow them to opt their children out before collecting sensitive personal information from students.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said parents have the right to know what questions schools are asking their children and the right to opt them out of such surveys. The department said the investigations are ongoing and that conclusions will depend on each district's practices and records.
This report is based on the Department of Education's statement and the New York Post's October 23 reporting on it.
Source: GSM·America
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国教育部总部 Lyndon Baines Johnson 大楼。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons（G. Edward Johnson 摄，CC BY 4.0）。 / Photo: The Lyndon Baines Johnson Building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education, via Wikimedia Commons (photo by G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0).
