Political Quotes

“I rise in support of H.R. 5331, which would extend educational and privacy rights currently available to families of public school students to home schooled children. I want to applaud my colleague from Minnesota, Representative Mark Kennedy, for sponsoring this legislation and his continued commitment to the education of our nation's children. This bill provides an important opportunity for Congress to correct an oversight in the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) that has resulted in some school districts and states being unable to maintain the privacy of information collected from families who home school their children. Under current law, FERPA protects the privacy of students who attend public school. However, many school districts and numerous States hold the private records of home-schooled students because these students are required by State law to register either with their State or local school district. A privacy problem arises from FERPA's definition of a student, which "does not include a person who has not been in attendance at such agency or institution." Therefore, under current law, the information of a home-schooled student who has never attend a public school is not protected under FERPA.”