Family Educational Rights and Privacy rule (2009)

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The Family Educational Rights and Privacy rule is a significant rule issued by the U.S. Department of Education effective January 8, 2009, that amended department regulations concerning the confidentiality of student records. The rule implemented amendments to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) outlined in the USA Patriot Act and the Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act, as well as two U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding FERPA.[1]
Timeline
The following timeline details key rulemaking activity:
- January 9, 2009: The final rule took effect.[1]
- January 6, 2009: The Department of Education published a correction to the final rule.[2]
- December 9, 2008: The Department of Education published a final rule.[1]
- May 8, 2008: The Department of Education closed the comment period.[3]
- March 24, 2008: The Department of Education published a notice of proposed rulemaking and opened the comment period.[3]
- August 21, 1974: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) was signed into law by President Gerald Ford (R).
Background
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President Gerald Ford signed the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) into law in 1974 to protect the confidentiality of student records. The law was sponsored by then-U.S. Senator James Buckley (R) as an amendment to extend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The law grants students the right to review their education records and prohibits institutions from disclosing education records without written consent from the student or the student's parents (for children under the age of 18). There are exceptions to FERPA, including the release of records to education officials or other institutions.[4]
Congress later passed the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA Patriot Act) of 2001 and the Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act of 2000. The laws contained amendments to FERPA and directed the U.S. Department of Education to update regulations "while ensuring that personally identifiable information about students remains protected from unauthorized disclosure." Two U.S. Supreme Court decisions in 2002 alleging FERPA violations, Owasso Independent School Dist. No. I-011 v. Falvo (2002) and Gonzaga University v. Doe, also prompted the U.S. Department of Education to update FERPA regulations. In Owasso Independent School Dist. No. I-011 v. Falvo, the Supreme Court ruled that peer-graded items were not education records and therefore were not protected under FERPA. Gonzaga University v. Doe concerned enforcement of FERPA with the Supreme Court acknowledging nondisclosure provisions, but arguing that the law does not create personal rights to enforce.[3][4][5][6]
In response to the FERPA amendments and court rulings, the U.S. Department of Education proposed the Family Educational Rights and Privacy rule on March 24, 2008.
Summary of the rule
The following is a summary of the rule from the rule's entry in the Federal Register:
“ | The Secretary amends our regulations implementing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which is section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act. These amendments are needed to implement a provision of the USA Patriot Act and the Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act, which added new exceptions permitting the disclosure of personally identifiable information from education records without consent. The amendments also implement two U.S. Supreme Court decisions interpreting FERPA, and make necessary changes identified as a result of the Department's experience administering FERPA and the current regulations.
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Summary of provisions
The following is a summary of the provisions from the final rule's entry in the Federal Register:[1]
“ | In the NPRM, we proposed regulations to implement section 507 of the USA Patriot Act (Pub. L. 107-56), enacted October 26, 2001, and the Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act, section 1601(d) of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-386), enacted October 28, 2000. Other major changes proposed in the NPRM included the following:
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The following provisions were also included in the final rule's entry:[1]
“ | These final regulations contain several significant changes from the NPRM as follows:
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Significant impact
- See also: Significant regulatory action
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) deemed this rule economically significant pursuant to Executive Order 12866. An agency rule can be deemed a significant rule if it has had or might have a large impact on the economy, environment, public health, or state or local governments. The term was defined by E.O. 12866, which was issued in 1993 by President Bill Clinton.[1]
Text of the rule
The full text of the rule is available below:[1]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Federal Register, "Family Educational Rights and Privacy," December 9, 2008
- ↑ Federal Register, "Family Educational Rights and Privacy," January 6, 2009
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Federal Register, "Family Educational Rights and Privacy," March 24, 2008
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Electronic Privacy Information Center, "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)," accessed February 9, 2023
- ↑ Oyez, "Owasso Independent School District No. I-011 v. Falvo," accessed February 9, 2023
- ↑ Oyez, "Gonzaga University v. Doe," accessed February 9, 2023
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.