In today’s online information age, people are increasingly concerned about privacy, especially when it comes to their children.

Michigan schools and the state Department of Education are collecting a significant amount of information on our students. This includes data such as grades, test scores and demographics — some of which is personally identifiable.

The purpose for gathering this information is to enable educators to personalize academic programs, give parents tools to hold schools accountable for performance and ensure the state can best evaluate how it is managing education resources.

I strongly believe that Southwest Michigan parents and students have the right to know what information about them is being collected and also what is being shared and with whom. They also deserve the comfort of knowing that their education records and personal information is sufficiently protected.

That is why I co-sponsored legislation to prohibit the state and our schools from selling or providing information in a student’s education records to any for-profit business entity.

The goal is to ensure that we protect vital information that could lead to identity theft if released into the wrong hands.

Senate Bill 33, sponsored by Senate Education Committee Chair Phil Pavlov, is also about keeping parents informed and engaged in their child’s education.

Under the bill, the Michigan Department of Education would have to post on its website a notice of the information it collects for a student’s education records and give the public 30 days’ notice if it wished to collect additional student data.

Schools districts and state agencies that collect student data would also be required to disclose that information to a student’s parent or guardian upon request.

I look forward to working to help enact this measure, so that all Michigan parents have access to key information about their child’s education and that our state and schools are taking the proper steps to ensure the privacy of that data.

 

Sen. John Proos, R-St. Joseph, represents Southwest Michigan.