CDT research indicates that parents desire more involvement in decision-making about how schools use data and technology (EdTech) to educate their children. However, schools often fail to provide opportunities for meaningful parental input. Concurrently, parents are demanding greater visibility and rights concerning school administrators' interactions with educational services beyond just EdTech. This demand has led to the introduction and sometimes passage of federal and state parental rights bills.
CDT analyzed a federal parents' rights bill and 30 state legislative bills from the 2022-23 and 2023-24 sessions. These bills resulted in varied outcomes, including vetoes, committee rejections, pending statuses, and enactments.
Most of these bills offering increased parental rights provided limited opportunities for expanded oversight over EdTech platforms. Instead, many proposed measures that could undermine student privacy by tracking student demographics, particularly gender-expansive students (e.g., transgender, intersex, non-binary).
Limited Focus on EdTech Transparency
The majority of reviewed bills did not specifically address ethical data practices within EdTech. Where addressed, legislative proposals generally focused on three areas:
1. Reinforcing existing parental rights to access and control student data.
2. Increasing control over monitoring on school-issued devices.
3. Mandating timely notification of data breaches.
Reinforcing Existing Parental Rights
Several states and the federal bill reinforced a parent's right to opt-out of surveys collecting sensitive non-academic data such as political affiliations or family income—rights already protected under the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) since 1974. States have expanded this opt-out provision to include biometric information collection.
Many proposals reiterated a parent’s right to inspect, review, and correct their child's education records—a right established by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Including these long-standing rights in new proposals might lead more parents to exercise them.
Increasing Control Over Monitoring School-Issued Devices
Some proposals recognized harms from online monitoring of school-issued devices. Enacted laws aim to minimize risks by restricting electronic monitoring features like location tracking or recording capabilities unless specific conditions are met (e.g., judicial orders or imminent threats).
Mandating Timely Notification of Data Breaches
A notable proposal included only in the federal bill is granting parents "timely notice of any major cyberattack against their child’s school." This transparency is crucial given the increasing number of reported data breaches in U.S. schools.
Parental Rights Undermining Privacy of Gender Expansive Students
Bills addressing student privacy issues often target gender-expansive students through:
1. Forced disclosure policies requiring schools to notify parents if a child requests different pronouns/names without student consent.
2. Criminalizing support for gender expansive students by punishing teachers/administrators who do not comply with forced disclosure requirements.
These policies could lead to hostile learning environments for gender-expansive students and implicate civil rights protections under Title IX.
Conclusion
Legislative focus on parental rights in K-12 education has not adequately addressed ethical EdTech practices but rather concentrated on privacy issues affecting gender-expansive students. Policymakers should prioritize meaningful parental involvement in decisions regarding data usage while avoiding policies that infringe upon student privacy and civil rights.
