Federal law protecting the privacy of students' education records. (20 U.S.C. § 1232g)
Tag: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
Federal law protecting the privacy of students' education records. (20 U.S.C. § 1232g)
The News and Observer Publishing Co., et al. v. Baddour
The News & Observer, along with seven other North Carolina and national media groups, including The Daily Tar Heel, requested access to records from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after football players were accused of receiving improper benefits from agents. A university tutor was also accused of providing inappropriate assistance on academic assignments and providing illegal benefits for players.
State ex rel. The Miami Student v. Miami University
In 1996, two reporters at The Miami Student newspaper requested disciplinary records from the University of Miami of Ohio's campus court proceedings, but were denied. The university claimed the records were protected by FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Although The Miami Student reporters did not request the names of students who had been disciplined, the university said that disclosing the records could risk identifying specific students' records. The newspaper argued the records were public under Ohio's public records law.
The State Journal-Register v. University of Illinois-Springfield
In September 2009, the University of Illinois paid $200,000 to settle a claim made by one or more women who said they were sexually assaulted by a coach at the school.
Gonzaga University v. Doe
The question of private action was raised in 2002, when former Gonzaga University student Ru Paster, identified in court documents only as John Doe, said university officials violated the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), commonly known as the Buckley Amendment, when they passed on unsubstantiated sexual assault allegations to the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Senators make changes to amendment after journalism advocates voice concerns with previous draft
Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate Wednesday will not aim to redefine what records schools can withhold under federal student privacy law, an issue that worried journalism and open-government advocates when an earlier version of the bill was released.
New York Times resubmits request for public records on University of Oregon sexual misconduct case after previous records were heavily redacted
A local prosecutor has declined an appeal from The New York Times seeking to compel the University of Oregon to turn over complete public records about a sexual misconduct investigation involving three UO men’s basketball players, prompting the newspaper to submit a new request.
University of Central Florida lawfully withheld records requested by student reporters
The University of Central Florida correctly withheld records that were protected by a federal education privacy law, a judge ruled this week in a public records lawsuit brought by student journalists at the university.
Markey-Hatch student privacy proposal fails to fix FERPA foolishness
A newly released draft Senate bill addressing concerns over the security of student data is, at best, a swing-and-a-miss at the larger problems afflicting federal privacy law. At worst, it's a damaging setback for the public's right to know.
U.S. Sens. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) released draft legislation Wednesday responding to widespread public alarm over a 2011 U.S. Department of Education rule that, in the view of critics, made it easier for schools and colleges to share identifiable student data with researchers.
The bill proposes updates to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the federal student privacy law, but does nothing to address the main problem afflicting FERPA: That its definition of confidential "education records" is grossly over-broad, enabling schools to conceal critical public-safety information or employee wrongdoing on bogus "student privacy" grounds.