BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2097|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2097
Author: Melendez (R), Gatto (D), and Gonzalez (D), et al.
Amended: 4/25/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/15/16
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan,
Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 5/19/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Pupil records: social security numbers
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill prohibits a local educational agency from
collecting or soliciting social security numbers or the last
four digits of social security numbers from students or their
parents.
ANALYSIS: Existing federal law, the Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act (FERPA):
1)Requires, generally, schools to have written permission from the
parent or eligible student in order to release any information
from a student's education record. However, FERPA allows
schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the
following parties or under the following conditions:
a) School officials with legitimate educational interest.
AB 2097
Page 2
b) Other schools to which a student is transferring.
c) Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes.
d) Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a
student.
e) Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf
of the school.
f) Accrediting organizations.
g) To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued
subpoena.
h) Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety
emergencies.
i) State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice
system, pursuant to specific State law.
2)Authorizes schools to disclose, without consent, "directory"
information such as a student's name, address, telephone
number, and date and place of birth. Existing law requires
schools to notify parents and eligible students about
directory information and allow them a reasonable amount of
time to request that the school not disclose such information.
Existing law requires schools to also notify parents and
eligible students annually of their rights under FERPA.
(United States Code, Title 20, § 1232(g), and Code of Federal
Regulations, Title 34, Part 99)
Existing state law:
1)Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), in
order to assist the State in evaluating the effectiveness of
special education programs, to collect and use social security
numbers of individuals with exceptional needs as student
identification numbers.
2)Prohibits the SPI from disclosing personally identifiable,
AB 2097
Page 3
individual student records to any person, institution, agency,
or organization except as authorized by federal law.
(Education Code § 56601)
3)Prohibits a school district from permitting access to student
records to any person without written parental consent or
pursuant to a judicial order except as set forth in federal
law. Existing law requires access to those particular records
relevant to the legitimate educational interests of the
requester to be permitted to specified requesters of that
information. (EC § 49076)
4)Requires local educational agencies to retain individual student
records, including a unique student identification number.
(EC § 60900)
This bill:
1)Prohibits a school district, county office of education, or
charter school from collecting or soliciting social security
numbers or the last four digits of social security numbers
from students or their parents, unless otherwise required to
do so by state or federal law.
2)Authorizes the California Department of Education (CDE) to
additionally prohibit the collection and solicitation of other
personally identifiable information, as recommended by the SPI
and approved by the State Board of Education.
3)Eliminates the authority for the SPI to collect and use social
security numbers, associated with students receiving special
education or related services.
4)States legislative findings and declarations regarding
prioritizing student data privacy, and that social security
numbers are the single most misused piece of information
associated with identity theft.
Comments
Morgan Hill case. This bill is in response to issues related to
Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association and Concerned Parents
AB 2097
Page 4
Association vs. California Department of Education, in which the
plaintiffs allege the CDE is failing to ensure that special
education students are receiving the services to which they are
entitled. As part of the discovery process, the plaintiffs have
sought access to the records of approximately 10 million special
education students. The records are contained in the California
Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS).
On May 5, 2014, the court approved a "discovery protective
order" and subsequently approved an "E-discovery Protocol,"
which identifies and describes the CDE databases that may
contain discoverable material and discusses methods by which
discovery can proceed while protecting personal identifying
information. The E-discovery Protocol identified two options
for discovery of data. Option 1 was the transfer of data in
CALPADS if and when the plaintiffs establish a secure
environment approved by a Special Master. In Option 2, CDE
would retain the data but would facilitate the running of
searches to meet the plaintiffs' discovery needs.
The ensuing media coverage reported that the court ordered the
release of data, resulting in a huge outcry among parents who
were concerned about the security of their children's
information and the possibility of identity theft. In the midst
of this, the CDE posted a FERPA notice on its Web site that
included an "Objection to Disclosure of Student Information and
Records" form for parents to fill out and send to the court.
After being inundated with the forms, the court held a special
status on February 29, 2016, to discuss the public posting of
the FERPA notice, the public's response, and the implications
for discovery.
On March 1, 2016, the court eliminated Option 1 and directed the
Special Master to proceed with Option 2 and to meet and confer
with the parties to recommend further modifications to the
E-discovery Protocol. This means that the CDE maintains custody
of CALPADS data, while running searches for information
requested by the plaintiffs. The court also reiterated that no
student personally identifiable information may be released to
the plaintiffs unless and until they demonstrate to the
satisfaction of the court that the method to be used to store
the sensitive student data is secure. The parties continue to
AB 2097
Page 5
litigate the extent of the disclosure of student data.
Only special education. The CDE used social security numbers as
identifiers only for students receiving special education as a
means to comply with federal requirements to track the
postsecondary activities of students (neither postsecondary
education nor the workplace uses the unique student
identifiers). The CDE indicates, they are currently working to
remove social security numbers from the California Special
Education Management Information System, and are in the process
of incorporating the data for all students into CALPADS. The
CDE further notes they have already assigned unique student
identifiers to all students, including those receiving special
education. While the CDE is already complying with the
provisions of this bill, the bill also prohibits schools from
collecting or soliciting social security numbers or the last
four digits of social security numbers.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/1/16)
California State PTA
California Teachers Association
The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/1/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 5/19/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
AB 2097
Page 6
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chang, Mathis, McCarty, Williams
Prepared by: Lynn Lorber / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/3/16 18:56:56
**** END ****