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MN
Homeschooler privacy bill passes U.S. House
by Natalie Moore, Pioneer Press, October 9, 2002
For more articles on disabilities and special ed visit
www.bridges4kids.org.
A bill introduced by Rep. Mark Kennedy, R-Minn., that protects
the privacy rights of home-schoolers nationwide passed the
U.S. House this week.
But for the bill to become law, an identical bill must pass
the Democrat-controlled Senate and be signed by the president.
So far, no companion bill has been introduced in the Senate.
The bill would close a loophole in federal law that makes the
records of some home-schoolers — including report cards and
personal data — public information. Some school districts have
interpreted the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act in a
way that does not apply to home-schooled or private school
students. A quirk in Minnesota state law also renders home-schoolers'
records public.
A spokesman for the freshman congressman said Kennedy, who is
seeking re-election, is pleased with the bill's initial
passage and said it would clear up a lot of confusion.
Two years ago the Minnesota Department of Administration ruled
that data collected on home-schoolers by public schools is
public because the records are not explicitly exempted in
state law. When the mobilized home-school community recently
learned of the loophole, parents began fighting to guarantee
the same privacy rights as those of public school students.
That Department of Administration ruling has caused confusion
and inconsistent application in Minnesota school districts.
The law requires districts to collect data on home-schoolers
but some treat the information as public data while others do
not.
Kennedy's bill doesn't prevent the collection of data on home-schoolers,
only its distribution.
In August state Sen. Dave Knutson, R-Burnsville, said he
planned to introduce a similar bill in the state Legislature.
If Kennedy's bill becomes law, it will address the privacy
issue on a national level.
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