A new bill, the Educational Rights and Privacy Act, that is being explored by Congress may soon give parents and eligible students a new tool for legal action against schools that have released their personal information without prior written consent. The bill modifies the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, which forbids schools from releasing student records without prior consent but does not permit the student to take legal proceedings against their school.
“”The remedy for students who feel their records were released in violation of FERPA is to first notify their school and allow the administration to assess the complaint and correct the deficiency,”” Director of Student Policies and Judicial Affairs Nicholas Aguilar said. “”If [the student] is still unsatisfied, [they] can take their case to the U.S. Department of Education. However, he or she may not sue them.””
Rep. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) proposed the bill in April in response to an incident in Spokane, Wash. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the university that had been sued by a former student, who believed he lost an employment opportunity when his university released his personal records, according to a report by the Badger Herald.
“”FERPA needs to be modified because the current law has no teeth,”” Andrews told the Herald. “”Currently, a student’s only remedy is to file a grievance, which may or may not sanction the university. The school is not held accountable for their action.””
According to Section 160-2 of the UCSD Policy and Procedures Manual, “”personally identifiable information from student records may not be disclosed without the prior written consent of the student.””
FERPA has protected the rights of students at Columbia University when the Recording Industry Association of America sent subpoenas to numerous colleges requesting information on certain students that had been sharing copyrighted downloaded music files. Columbia University nullified the requests, stating that releasing the records would be a violation of FERPA.
If passed by Congress, the bill would expedite procedures taken by the student or parent filing the complaint against their school, giving them the authority to take legal proceedings instead of having to first take their case to the administration, and then to the U.S. Department of Education.
“”I think [the bill] would be beneficial since it gives students more options if the university were to release their records in violation of FERPA,”” A.S. Commissioner of Judicial Affairs Jeffrey Boyd said. “”[The bill] would persuade the university to be more compliant with FERPA, allowing the Department of Education to deny funds to those universities that would purposely violate the act.””
According to Aguilar, the addendum to FERPA may result in “”the increase of unnecessary lawsuits that would only divert the funds and resources of public universities from their primary mission of education to pay for the litigation.
“”[The bill] won’t provide any greater insurance for privacy and security than there presently is,”” Aguilar said. “”It would only intimidate those administrators acting in good faith, who are in charge of thousands of student records.””
There have been relatively few cases at UCSD regarding a violation of FERPA, according to Aguilar.
“”There have been less than 10 in the past 20 years, and all have been resolved to the satisfaction of the student and/or the U.S. Department of Education,”” Aguilar said.
The campus has been secure in ensuring the privacy of its students, according to Boyd.
“”UCSD has always erred on the side of caution in regards to the policy of FERPA,”” Boyd said.
Congress is expected to vote on the bill sometime this fall.
