DATA MINING: “Much Ado About Nothing…” FACT or FICTION?

DATA MINING: “Much Ado About Nothing…” FACT or FICTION?
Published on October 1, 2013 – 2:41pm
at NH Families for Education Website, one of our foremost NHTPC contributors on this issue.
by Rep. Jane Cormier (Alton, Barnstead, Gilmanton)

On Monday evening, Virginia Barry, Commissioner of the NH Dept. of Education, held a forum for school boards and administrators at Bedford High School. It was quite an event with about 175 people in attendance. But, only members of NH school boards/administrators were allowed to ask questions or offer input. In addition to Commissioner Barry telling attendees, there is “much ado about nothing” with regard to critics’ concern of Common Core, there were some very important MISTATEMENTS made by our Commissioner. We will take up a very important one here…

Carlos Martinez of the Alton School Board noted Commissioner Barry was “spreading misinformation” in her presentation as she denied DATA MINING was part and parcel of Common Core. Of course, Commissioner Barry knows the truth. You should as well.

1. In December 2011, the US Department of Education amended the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Why is this important? In a nutshell, FERPA was a law which ensured personal (and identifiable) information was not shared with outside entities WITHOUT parental consent. Information could be Social Security numbers, health information, etc… For the past 40 years or so, this information could not be used. However, with regulatory amendments (no legislative approval – sound familiar?) added in 2011, these “firewalls” were disabled. The amendments shift responsibility from PARENTS to BUREAUCRATS/ADMINISTRATORS as “authorized representatives” who can personally receive access to personal data. This data can now be shared with trade unions, non-governmental agencies, and companies who develop educational products and services.

Now here comes BILL GATES (yet again) who recently announced the creation of inBloom, a $100 million dollar DATABASE which will act as a broker between schools, states, and private companies. Remember now, PARENTAL KNOWLEDGE OR CONSENT is no longer part of the equation.

2. InBloom (www.inbloom.org) has a number of wonderful “Guiding Principles”. 1. We are dedicated to working on behalf of the public good. (Well, I am glad to hear that!) 2. We recognize the sensitivity of storing student data and place the utmost importance on the privacy and security of that data. (That is really big of you! But wait, I guess there IS data mining happening?) 3. We ensure availability of and access to inBloom by creating cost-effective technology services for states of all sizes…partnering with companies ranging from start-ups to established education technology leaders. (I expect you will be VERY busy with all that data!) 4. We are committed to providing all students…race, socioeconomic status, or special learning needs, access to the variety of tools and other services inBloom provides. (Just nice guys all around, I guess…)

So, let’s get this right… Bill Gates FUNDS the “Race to the Top” funds to push implementation of Common Core in our states, makes a good profit off the Microsoft technology needed to provide the assessment of Common Core (ALL assessments MUST be computer generated), and NOW, the Benevolent One, institutes InBloom to further “assist” with Common Core implementations. (You can find this declaration under “The Current State of K-12 Technology “Our Vision” on the inBloom site.) Not too shabby for a college drop out. Rather ironic if you ask me…

We need to wake up and keep LOCAL CONTROL of our schools. Let’s not leave our youth to the progressive tentacles of government overreach. We are losing our parental rights to the bureaucracy that is inherent in Common Core. DATA MINING is a FACT, folks – don’t let anyone tell you it is not!

And that includes our own NH Commissioner of Education, Virginia Barry. At $113,000 per year, Commissioner Barry should be able to come up with FACTS – NOT FICTION. Never forget, WE THE PEOPLE are paying her salary!