The number of suburban districts in New York State dropping out of the state’s Race to the Top program continues to grow, largely because of parent concern about the data-mining of their children’s private records. These districts received relatively small amounts of money in exchange for accepting many mandates.
This article sums up the current situation:
Twenty-eight school districts in the Lower Hudson Valley have dropped out of the Race to the Top program in recent weeks, largely due to state plans to share student records with a privately run database, a survey has found.
Four more districts will consider the move within a week, and several others may do so in time.
The Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents surveyed 76 districts, including special act districts, in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Dutchess counties. Of the 53 districts that responded, more than half have pulled out of Race to the Top since last month — forfeiting mostly small federal grants. Another 10 districts never took part in the program.
“Our concerns have to do with how the state can guarantee thedata will be secure in the future,” said South Orangetown Superintendent Kenneth Mitchell, president of the superintendents group.
The state Board of Regents wants to send about 400 categories of student records, starting with names, to inBloom, a nonprofit group, so that educators can better analyze student needs. But local school officials and parents have expressed grave concerns over how the encrypted data — from disciplinary to health to income records — could be used down the line.
In addition, the following information comes from the Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents:
Opting out
Districts that dropped out of Race to the Top: Bedford, Brewster, Byram Hills, Carmel, Croton-Harmon, Dobbs Ferry, Eastchester, Elmsford, Garrison, Greenburgh Graham, Hastings, Hendrick Hudson, Hyde Park, Irvington, Lakeland, Mahopac, Mamaroneck, Mount Pleasant, Pearl River, Pelham, Pleasantville, Pocantico Hills, Rye Neck, Somers, South Orangetown, Spackenkill, Tuckahoe and Yorktown.
Districts that never joined RTTT: Ardsley, Blind Brook, Briarcliff Manor, Bronxville, Chappaqua, Edgemont, Harrison, Putnam Valley, Rye City and Scarsdale.
Source: Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents
Twenty-eight school districts in the Lower Hudson Valley have dropped out of the Race to the Top program in recent weeks, largely due to state plans to share student records with a privately run database, a survey has found.
Four more districts will consider the move within a week, and several others may do so in time.
The Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents surveyed 76 districts, including special act districts, in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Dutchess counties. Of the 53 districts that responded, more than half have pulled out of Race to the Top since last month — forfeiting mostly small federal grants. Another 10 districts never took part in the program.
“Our concerns have to do with how the state can guarantee the data will be secure in the future,” said South Orangetown Superintendent Kenneth Mitchell, president of the superintendents group.
The state Board of Regents wants to send about 400 categories of student records, starting with names, to inBloom, a nonprofit group, so that educators can better analyze student needs. But local school officials and parents have expressed grave concerns over how the encrypted data — from disciplinary to health to income records — could be used down the line.
“We haven’t gotten real clear answers,” said Hendrick Hudson Superintendent Joseph Hochreiter, whose district opted out Wednesday night. “In the absence of certainty, districts are opting out and losing trust.”
On Wednesday, lawyers representing a dozen New York City parents filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the state from shipping records to the inBloom.
Illinois is the only other state fully committed to inBloom, which is struggling to find support for a national database of student records.
Districts have dropped out of Race to the Top to avoid having to choose a state-sponsored data “portal” that will connect to inBloom’s database. But state officials insist that districts have to contribute much of the same data.
“There is a sense that the student privacy issue has awoken a sleeping giant in parents, even more so than testing,” said Susan Elion Wollin, president of the Bedford school board, which withdrew Wednesday, and president of the Westchester-Putnam School Boards Association. “We all want what’s best for the kids, but people need to hear what the state is doing to accommodate concerns.”
Districts that dropped out of Race to the Top still have to use the Common Core learning standards and tests.
Source: Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents
The school districts who never entered RTTT are all Westchester County except one, Put Valley. Can anyone explain why? Maybe they had better info to pass onto other superintendents who haven’t withdrawn yet. Does this mean that their info won’t be uploaded or will it still be uploaded and they won’t use it?
Parents are the first and prime educators, and their voices should be heard.
My email to NYSED:
Mr. Katz
I am reading about a number of school districts throughout the state that have decided to return RTTT money, effectively “dropping out” of the contest.
Does dropping out of RTTT (per district) mean that these districts do not have to take Pearson/CCSS exams in April? Does dropping out mean that APPR teacher evaluations are no longer required? Does dropping out of RTTT have any other consequences for a district or its students? Thank you.
NYSED respones:
None of the below is true, all program requirements are still in place including APPR based on the Regents Reform Agenda and the Tchr/Prin evaluation laws of 2010. Please see http://www.engageny.org/portal for more information.
Thank you.
My follow up:
That what I thought. However, what if a school district/BOE decided to unilaterally opt-out and refused to administer the 3 – 8 assessments and principals used an alternative method of teacher evaluation (not tied to test scores) what would the consequences be? Thank you.
NYSED reply:
(I’m still waiting)
Reblogged this on Transparent Christina.
Question: Katonah-Lewisboro is a district within this group – we are told that district wasn’t ever in RTTT – can you verify? Thank you!
I have a question . Saturday at 8 am I attended our SD BOE meeting. I explained my grave concern over InBloom data mining . I was told that I was being misinformed regarding data collection of blood type, voter status, and religious affiliation . They told me to go to the engageny website to see what would be collected. I read all 19 pages of data collection . The site assured parents that no information would be sold and health records, blood type, or voter status was not something that engage ny even collects. Please clarify, I am tired of being the one parent that expresses concerns and has no one
( better informed) to help me debate this . So I make my statements ,ask questions, and then told I am misinformed -in front of an audience of parents. Because who shows up to an 8 am boe meet on a Saturday anyway? If you go to engageny website it’s all pretty reassuring and that’s what they quote back over and over. Also, I was told that I was wrong NY is one of the most privacy conscious states.
Can anyone help me overcome these objections ?
I know US Dept of Ed says blood type, religious affiliation etc. but our BOE says that is not part if the engageny contract. It is more limited than US dept of Ed.
Thanks in advance for helping me
Danielle, inBloom will collect 400 data points on each student. That is not insignificant. I will get a link for you.
Was Katonah-Lewisboro always out? I don’t see it listed?
After the health care mess the next mess on deck is Race to the Top — which is unraveling as fast as Obamacare.
Why does it mean they still have to use CCSS and tests? If States took on these things in order to mett RTTT criteria, why does withdrawing not mean they are out of them?
New York state is not withdrawing from RTTT, individual school districts claim they are. Apparently a NYSED official says this cannot be.
They are finally waking up to “The real bigotry of faux expectations”.
I hope that this movement to OptOut will extend well beyond NY’s borders and to every state that accepted RTTT funds and is held hostage to this! Let InBloom be the catalyst to finally put an end to the tyranny of corporate control over public education! Thanks NY for getting the ball rolling (too bad that InBloom could ever even be considered as a viable “tool”)
I attended my district’s Board of Ed meeting two weeks ago, where this issue was discussed. We were told that the district was given a deadline to select one of the three portals, and if they did not select one, the state would assign them one. So they didn’t see any benefit to withdrawing from RTTT, because the state was still going to move forward on the data collection anyway. Is this correct? If so, why are the Lower Hudson schools withdrawing – what is the benefit?
Thanks.
Sooo, where’s the money for RTTT? School districts across the state rather dropout than take the funding because the tracking of data is too intrusive, where does their portion of funding go? What districts have the funding and what have they done with it? Is NYC receiving any of the funds for RTTT?
Dr. Kenneth Mitchell, superintendent of the South Orangetown school district, will retire at the end of the year—calendar, not school year.
http://pearlriver.patch.com/groups/schools/p/mitchell-retiring-from-south-orangetown
Pearl River Superintendent of Schools Dr. John Morgano sent out a letter Monday morning informing parents and community membrers that he will retire at the end of the current school year.
http://pearlriver.patch.com/groups/schools/p/morgano-to-retire-as-pearl-river-superintendent-of-schools
Two great superintendents leaving Rockland County, NY…….What is going on and what can we do about it????