Education Department expands privacy of school records, bringing objections from journalists

This from the Rural Blog:

In new regulations issued under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), also known as the Buckley Amendment, the U.S. Department of Education is making more information about students difficult to get.

The 1974 amendment was intended to "safeguard against disclosure of personally identifying 'education records' such as attendance records and transcripts," writes Frank LoMonte for the Student Press Law Center. If schools violate the law, they run the risk of losing federal education funding.

The latest regulation issued under the law, published in the Dec. 9 Federal Register, broadens the definition of "educational record" to include "redacted" records -- documents and records that have already had names and identifying information deleted from them. " ...