RED HOT CONSERVATIVE

“Backstory on HB 2103: Data Mining in Texas” – by Donna Garner

I pleaded with all Texas Legislators not to pass HB 2103 because it would open Texas students, parents, and teachers up to possible data mining by third party entities. Then I wrote to Gov. Rick Perry on 5.31.13 and asked him to veto HB 2103.  Unfortunately, my concerns were ignored; and Gov. Perry signed it into law on 6.14.13.

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HB 2103 — http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=83R&Bill=HB2103

On 5.13.13, HB 2103 passed unanimously in the Texas Senate – 31 and 0.

On 4.25.13 in the Texas House, HB 2103 passed with 130 yeas, 1 nay, 1 present not voting:

Absent, Excused — Alonzo; Anderson; Branch; Coleman; Dutton; Farrar; Huberty; Kacal; King, P.; Pitts; Villalba; Vo.

Absent, Excused, Committee Meeting — Otto.

Absent — Toth.

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Sent by Donna Garner to all Texas Legislators and to Gov. Rick Perry: 

HB 2103 – Sharing of personal data with entities all across the United States

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=83R&Bill=HB2103

Villarreal/Branch/Seliger – 

SUMMARY STATEMENT ABOUT 2103

This bill if passed would be a field day for hackers!  Also, liberal-left professors will most likely take over the Centers for Education Research projects; and all of our personal data will be shared among various agencies in Texas and in other states. The data shared can go back 20 years.

CONCERNS ABOUT HB 2103

Basic Fact of Life:  The further that data gets away from the original source, the less people tend to protect it.

The data can include confidential information that is permitted under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g).

In a Washington Post article dated 3.13.13, (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/13/lawsuit-charges-ed-department-with-violating-student-privacy-rights/ ), the U. S. Dept. of Ed. Is being sued because of the changes made to the FERPA law under the Obama administration.  Now private companies and foundations under the cloak of “promoting school reform” are allowed to get access to private student (and teacher) information. No parental permission is required, and student ID’s are linked to their private information. 

A database funded by Bill Gates called iBloom, Inc. has already collected personal student data from seven states and will most likely morph into the national database under the Common Core Standards Initiative. 

According to the Washington Post article, the information already collected “holds files on millions of children identified by name, address and sometimes social security number. Learning disabilities are documented, test scores recorded, attendance noted. In some cases, the database tracks student hobbies, career goals, attitudes toward school – even homework completion.”

DETAILS OF THE BILL – HB 2103

This bill sets up cooperating agencies including the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), and the Texas Workforce Commission  (TWC) that will share data. 

Three centers for education research (CER’s) will be set up to conduct research using the data from the TEA, THECB, and TWC that goes back at least 20 years.

The data will be known as the P-20/Workforce Data Repository and will be operated by the Higher Education Coordinating Board.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board will establish three centers for education research (CER’s) to conduct studies and share education data, includingcollege admission tests and data from the National Student Clearinghouse. The CER’s must operate for at least a 10-year period of time.

The Commissioner of the THECB will create, chair, and maintain an advisory board over the three research centers that must approve by majority vote all research studies and/or evaluations conducted.

The advisory board will meet at least quarterly and will be live streamed. 

The Advisory Board will consist of:

A representative from the THECB, designated by the commissioner of higher education

A representative from the TEA, designated by the Commissioner of Education

A representative from the Texas Workforce Commission, designated by the commission

The directors of each of the three education research centers or the director’s designee

A representative from preschool, elementary, or secondary education

Research proposals can come from a qualified Texas researcher or from other states, a graduate student, a P-16 Council representative, or from a researcher who says the research will benefit Texas education (Pre-K through 16).

These research centers can be at a public junior college, public senior college or university, a public state college, or a consortium of all.

The data collected by these three education research centers can come from:

cooperating agencies

public or private colleges/universities

school districts

a provider of services to a school district or public or private institution of higher education

an entity approved as a part of the research project

After the three research centers are established, they must be supported by gifts and grants. 

The data agreements are supposed to protect the confidentiality of all information used or stored at these centers and is subject to state and federal confidentiality laws.  However, we know there have been hundreds of hacking incidents and the free sharing of personal information by many agencies. 

Basic Fact of Life:  The further that data gets away from the original source, the less people tend to protect it.

The data is not to be removed or duplicated from a research center without authorization. 

State education agencies from other states can negotiate agreements for these Texas education research centers to share Texas data. 

The research centers can also form agreements with local agencies or organizations that provide education services to Texas students, including relevant data about former students of Texas public schools. 

HB 2103 is to take effect immediately.

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A person might want to do a search under “PEIMS, new name,” and he will find training power points that the Texas Education Agency has put together to train PEIMS data entry personnel on the new updates.  Of course, all of this training for PEIMS was BEFORE HB 2103 was passed.  I can well imagine that other data may very well be collected and shared widely.

So far as I know, that data in Texas is not being transmitted out of the state to a third-party vendor yet; but at some future time such a thing could occur.  I do know that when Texas took the Stimulus funds, they (as well as every other state in the U. S. that took the funds) had to completely redo the database that had been previously used in Texas because they had to send the data to D. C. in a certain, prescribed format. This, of course, was the Common Core Standards Initiative laying the foundation for the future national database.

Here are some links that explain what data is collected by PEIMS: 

http://www.skyward.com/DeptDocs/Corporate/Documentation/Public%20Website/Tutorials/Mailings/PEIMS_Changes_for_2012_13a.pdf

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=3866

http://www.esc18.net/cms/lib/TX07001387/Centricity/Domain/102/2012-2013%20PEIMS%20for%20Experienced%20Users.pdf

http://www.esc18.net/cms/lib/TX07001387/Centricity/Domain/102/NewPEIMS201222013.pdf

Donna Garner

Wgarner1@hot.rr.com