The State Commissioner of Education MaryEllen Elia has scheduled a hearing on whether to remove Buffalo school trustee Carl Paladino for racially offensive remarks made last December in print.
As Leonie Haimson writes here, there is another reason to discipline the billionaire real estate developer.
He violated student privacy laws.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I always thought this proCharter advocate (Paladino) should be disqualified from a seat on the Buffalo School Board because of business conflicts since he owns the properties being sold or rented to various Buffalo Charter Schools. But voting on issues which are of personal financial benefit seems to be a privilege/right of billionaires (aka Donald Trump).
Way to go!
Just wondering what penalty, if any, goes with violating FERPA and what legal fees may be attached to going after this guy. He has no regard for ethical conduct.
The allegations provoke so many questions…
Is it typical for school staff to provide lists of tardiness records, medical-related info. etc., with student names identified, to Board members, who may be potential employers, insurers, etc.?
If a particular student is singled out to have his records disclosed, would an info. request, come from board members or, would the info. be voluntarily provided by school staff?
What would be the motivation for the disclosure of a single student’s tardiness, at a board meeting?
This particular student was running against Paladino for his school board seat. The young man was supported by the union and actually almost won which is why Paladino was trying to discredit his youthful opponent. It’s very possible Paladino got the information about the suspension from word of mouth and not by looking at his records.
When Paladino ran for NYS Governor, he lost support by making similar nasty, racist comments. This is nothing new and it will attributed to his warped sense of humor. Some people like him for his open, blunt, shoot-from-the-hip verbiage (similar to that of Donald Trump) which is probably why he beat Cuomo in Western New York.
It’s hard for Buffalonians to get excited about more of the same behaviors.