Washington Post--Justice Department plans new project to sue universities over affirmative action policies
Justice Department officials are planning a new project to investigate and sue universities over affirmative action admissions policies they determine discriminate against white applicants, according to a U.S. government official.
The project will be based out of the department’s civil rights division, which is now looking for lawyers interested in working on “investigations and possible litigation related to intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions,” according to a person familiar with an internal announcement in the civil rights division.
Sari Horwitz and Emma Brown August 1 at 11:23 PM
Education Week--COPPA and Schools: The (Other) Federal Student Privacy Law, Explained
When it comes to federal protections for students’ sensitive personal information, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, tends to get most of the attention.
But schools also need to be familiar with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, commonly known as COPPA.
In a nutshell, COPPA requires operators of commercial websites, online services, and mobile apps to notify parents and obtain their consent before collecting any personal information on children under the age of 13. The aim is to give parents more control over what information is collected from their children online.
This law directly regulates companies, not schools. But as the digital revolution has moved into the classroom, schools have increasingly been put in the middle of the relationship between vendors and parents.
The Federal Trade Commission, which enforces COPPA, has said that schools can, in many situations, stand in for parents and let companies collect information from young children. In some cases, companies may try to shift some of the burden of COPPA compliance away from themselves and onto schools. And it’s clear that the law places significant indirect burdens on schools and educators.
Those dynamics have opened up multiple cans of worms, said Sonja H. Trainor, the director of the Council of School Attorneys for the National School Boards Association.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/childrens-online-privacy-protection-act-coppa/index.html
Benjamin Herold| July 28, 2017