Tomorrow’s live stream panel on student privacy, and news of our victory in court!

April 26, 2015

Dear Friends,

Tomorrow, Saturday April 25, I will be moderating a panel on student privacy and the perils of ed tech at the Network for Public Education conference in Chicago. I will speak about how federal privacy laws have been unacceptably weakened by the US Department of Education, and how parent and privacy activists nationwide last year defeated inBloom, the $100 million Gates-funded database.

Also on the panel: Rachael Stickland of CO, co-chair of our national group, Parent Coalition to Protect Student Privacy, who will focus on current federal and state battles to protect privacy, Cynthia Liu of K12 News Network, talking about the Los Angeles IPad scandal, and Nathan Ringo, student activist from Minnesota on his struggle to stop his school from monitoring his online usage. Please tune into the livestream, starting at 10:35 AM CST at http://www.schoolhouselive.org/ Politico also featured our panel in its Morning Newsletter.

Many important keynote speeches and panel discussions will be held Saturday and Sunday, with NY-based heroes like Diane Ravitch and Carol Burris; and nationally-known heroes of real reform like Yong Zhao and Karen Lewis. Check out the livestream and the entire schedule of events. If you tweet be sure to use hashtag #NPEChicago.

2.  Yesterday Judge Moulton of the NY State Supreme Court ruled that NYC School Leadership Teams must be open to the public and against NYC’s claim that SLTs were not “public bodies” because they are only “advisory.” This is a great victory for transparency, for the public interest, and for parents – as SLT’s are made up of half parents and have a critical role in developing each school’s Comprehensive Education Plan, which is supposed to determine the school-based budget.

Thanks to Tish James, Public Advocate, who intervened along with Class Size Matters in the case, originally brought by retired teacher Michael Thomas. Thanks also to NY Lawyers for Public Interest and Advocates for Justice, who represented us pro bono, and to Lisa Donlan, who contributed a critical affidavit and did background research for the case.

The court’s decision is posted on my blog here. News clips about the court’s decision are in today’s NY Times, Chalkbeat, the AP and the WSJ blog. Let’s hope that DOE doesn’t appeal the decision, which would be a waste of taxpayer money, especially as the Court’s decision was clear and compelling. As Judge Moulton concluded, “The proper functioning of public schools is a public concern.” Amen.

Please remember to send a letter to the Legislature, urging them NOT to raise the cap on charters, NOT to provide tax credits for private school tuition, and to amend Mayoral control by providing checks and balances.

Talk to you soon, and thanks!

Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
212-674-7320

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Categories Newsletters | Tags: | Posted on April 28, 2015

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