HR0364 LRB094 12129 RAS 45470 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The United States Department of Education wants
3 public and private universities and community colleges to
4 provide personal information about every student in the country
5 in order to create the national Student Record Data System; the
6 Department claims that the new data system will provide more
7 accurate and useful information regarding the status of our
8 higher education system; and
 
9     WHEREAS, This data system would collect from universities
10 the following information for each student: social security
11 number, history of classes taken, current class schedule,
12 address, phone number, race, gender, academic performance,
13 degree and certificate completion status, and student loan
14 records; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Nearly 17 million students nationwide attend
16 institutions of higher education that would be required to
17 report data to the Student Record Data System; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Many postsecondary institutions are already
19 facing financial difficulties and requiring these institutions
20 to submit additional reports to the federal government would
21 add additional costs to their already cash-strapped budgets;
22 furthermore, these costs may have to be passed on to students
23 in the form of increased tuition or fees; and
 
24     WHEREAS, A person's social security number serves as the
25 "access code" to his or her life and a database of 17 million
26 individuals' personal information would be an extremely
27 attractive target for computer identity theft; in 2004 alone,
28 11,138 Illinois residents reported cases of identity theft to
29 the Federal Trade Commission; and
 
30     WHEREAS, Organizations such as the National Association of

 

 

HR0364 - 2 - LRB094 12129 RAS 45470 r

1 Independent Colleges and Universities and the United States
2 Student Association oppose this potential violation of
3 students' privacy; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Other critics worry that, in the future,
5 additional federal uses will be demanded for the information
6 contained in the database, such as making the information
7 available to other agencies like the Department of Homeland
8 Security or the Internal Revenue Service; currently under the
9 USA Patriot Act, the Attorney General of the United States and
10 the United States Department of Justice would have unrestricted
11 primary access to the information pursuant to their duty to
12 fight terrorism; and
 
13     WHEREAS, A vote of the Congress of the United States is
14 required to authorize the U.S. Department of Education to
15 create the Student Record Data System; therefore, be it
 
16     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
17 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
18 we strongly urge the Congress of the United States and the
19 United States Department of Education not to move forward with
20 the creation of the Student Record Data System as it severely
21 impinges upon the privacy rights of our students and places
22 great financial and clerical burdens upon our already
23 overworked universities and community colleges; and be it
24 further
 
25     RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
26 delivered to the President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, the
27 Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, each member of
28 the Illinois congressional deligation, and the U.S. Secretary
29 of Education.