Speak up for student privacy rights, AB 2994 limits military access to student records

Speak up for student privacy rights, AB 2994 limits military access to student records


With a vote of 6 to 3, AB 2994 passed out of committee on April 29.
Now it will be up for the floor vote on May 8. Call Assemblymembers and
tell them to stand up for students’ right to privacy.


AB 2994 is up for the floor vote this Thursday, May 8. Calling offices
and talking to staff members about how they think their member will
vote on the bill is probably the best thing to do. It is best to focus
only on Democrat offices.

As far as what to say to the offices, simply make sure they are aware
this is a privacy issue, not an antimilitary bill. There is no need to
bring up militaristic aspects of the issue unless someone during
conversation raises concern over military access to students. The bill
sponsor's staff believes it got out of the Veterans Affairs committee
in part because of the idea that it was not antimilitary, but pro-
privacy.

You can look up contact information for individual Assemblymembers at
http://www.assembly.ca.gov/defaulttext.asp

Below are some talking points in favor of AB 2994.

Primary points:

1. AB 2994 would protect and improve the ability of students and
parents to exercise their right to opt out when private contact
information is about to be released by high schools under the No Child
Left Behind Act.

2. AB 2994 would address an egregious violation of student
confidentiality and parent custodial rights that occurs when the Dept.
of Defense's military aptitude test, the ASVAB, is given to thousands
of students in California secondary schools.

Regarding op-out and NCLB recruiting lists:

a. Currently, there is a wide variation in how school districts notify
families of this federally mandated op-out right.

b. Most local school opt-out forms require a parent's signature and
say nothing about students exercising this right, which the federal
law entitles them to do.

c. The notification itself is often buried in thick packets, and opt-
out forms are not easily accessible on school district Web sites.

d. Because of the uneven, often irresponsible ways that many school
districts are implementing opt-out procedures, thousands of California
students and parents never learn that they have a right to keep
student contact information private. AB 2994 would solve the problem
by establishing a uniform method of placing the opt-out notice and
relevant check-off boxes on emergency information forms filled out by
parents and students during school registration.


Regarding ASVAB testing in California high schools:

a. Approximately two-thirds of all high schools voluntarily give their
students the military's aptitude test, the Armed Services Vocational
Aptitude Battery (ASVAB).

b. When the ASVAB is administered in secondary schools, it is used by
military recruiters to obtain contact information on students even if
the students or their parents have exercised their right to opt-out of
the student contact lists released under the No Child Left Behind Act.

c. The ASVAB goes beyond exposing mere contact information: the data
released includes a student's Social Security number, gender, race,
ethnicity, birth date, statement of future plans and aptitude profile.

d. Students are asked to sign a “privacy act statement” when they sit
down to take the test that does NOT disclose that the data will be
used by recruiters.

e. Even more disturbing, the ASVAB test is given mostly to students
who are under the age of 18 (10th-12th graders), yet the ASVAB school
testing program does NOT require that parents be notified. This makes
it not only a violation of students’ privacy rights, but also of the
right of parents to control outsiders’ access to their minor children.

f. Parents are not aware that if they or their children opted out of
the release of school lists to recruiters under NCLB, that choice will
be overridden if a school gives the ASVAB to their children.

g. Some schools are making the ASVAB mandatory.

h. The Dept. of Defense gives schools the option of giving the ASVAB
test without releasing data to recruiters, and its regulations
prohibit discrimination against schools if they choose that option.
Nevertheless, according to the Military Entrance Processing Command,
which oversees the school testing program, in the ’06-‘07 school year,
less than 6% of schools elected that option nationwide.

i. AB 2994 offers a reasonable solution to this compelling problem. It
would allow ASVAB testing to continue if schools desire it, but
mandate that the DoD’s confidentiality option be a universal policy.

j. If AB 2994 is adopted and students who take the ASVAB later wish to
explore military enlistment, they would still be able to release their
test scores by signing a waiver used for such purposes at each
Military Entrance Processing Station.