Regarding the Use of SSNs in Education and Related Data Systems

Related Laws Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) – Public Law The Social Security Act of 1935 The Privacy Act of 1974 – Public Law The Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 – Public Law The No Child Left Behind Act- Public Law The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 – Public Law The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act Amendments of Public Law The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act- Public Law The Higher Education Act- Public Law The Chafee Foster Care Independence Act of Public Law

Key Uses of the SSNs in Florida Embedded in the ID systems of public PK12, Workforce Education, Adult Education, Community Colleges, and Universities: Helps assure relational integrity of formats that comprise the reporting systems Helped facilitate interstate transfers of K12 and postsecondary data such as between Louisiana and Florida following Katrina/Rita Helps with state/local administrative requirements such as pre- certification for free and reduced lunch (food stamps linkages); driver’s license suspensions caused by non-attendance; migrant student education program data bases Facilitates transcript exchanges

Key Uses of the SSNs…more Used to link students with their teachers, counselors, coaches and others in K12 Used to link teachers to certification information, retirement information Used to link K12 students to Bright Futures financial aid data base, the FASFA, and SAT student questionnaires as well as other financial aid programs Facilitates creating postsecondary feedback reports, linking K12 student data to placement tests, enrollment, and persistence information Facilitates postsecondary degree audit procedure for postsecondary students (tracks across programs and sectors)

Key Uses of the SSNs…more Used to verify postsecondary enrollments associated with payments on federally-insured student loans Used to track the performance of community college students in the upper division of state universities Underpins the operation of the Florida Education and Training Placement Information Program (FETPIP) as required in state law (this system tracks employment, military enlistment, postsecondary enrollments – including the National Student Loan Clearinghouse Is an important part of the identity management matching processes in the PK20 Education Data Warehouse (EDW)

“Clearly Permissible Sharing” Directory Information Anonymous data that does not disclose personally identifiable information Personally identifiable data for limited purposes: – Evaluating/auditing state and local education programs – Establishing system accountability – Monitoring and analyzing assessment, enrollment, and graduation data – Performing studies to improve instruction – Sharing records among schools – Maintaining a process to link teachers/instructors and students

Cautions 1.The public is rightfully skittish about the use of SSNs, especially for children 2. SSN provision should never be a condition of enrollment in public education, alternatives should be available 3.SSN reporting is subject to several sources of significant error including applicability, validity, and accuracy 4.SSNs should not be integral to the assignment of identification numbers 5.The use of SSNs in education data systems should be limited to “must do situations” involving such things as transcript transfers out-of-state, financial aid processes, linkages to postsecondary and the workforce