NYS Allies for Public Education asks parents to urge Tish James to investigate the College Board's potentially illegal practice of selling student data

Also posted on NYSAPE website here.

November 19, 2019

Dear NYSAPE Friends,

Thanks to the advocacy of you and hundreds of other parents, we convinced the NY State Education Department not to revise the student privacy regulations so that the College Board and the ACT could continue selling student data.  NYSED has now posted the regulations for a third round of comments, due Dec. 9.  If you’d like to comment, you do so by sending them to REGCOMMENTS@nysed.gov.

Please sign this petition today, urging the NY State Attorney General Letitia James to investigate
the College Board’s illegal and unethical selling of personal student data.  Also check out the one-pager with advice on how to avoid having your child’s data sold for profit when they take the ACT, PSAT, SAT or AP exams.
On Nov. 5, the Wall Street Journal published an excellent article about this egregious practice, showing that one reason colleges purchase the data from the College Board is to market to more students and increase their rejection rates, which then raises their own ratings and reputation for selectivity.  And last week, WCBS news ran a segment on how the College Board routinely violates student privacy through their “Student Search” program in this way.
​
If your child signed up for the “Student Search” program in the past and mistakenly allowed their data to be sold, and you’re interested in potentially taking legal action to force the College Board into ceasing this practice, please email info@studentprivacy.org to find out more. 

More updates coming soon on the discussions around the state regarding revising graduation requirements, state testing, the impact of the common core standards, choosing the next state Ed Commissioner, filling Regent Judith Johnson's position and other issues.

Thank you! NYSAPE