FPCO Office - the only way for parents to enforce FERPA - either keep or add amendment to FERPA for private right of action

Trump wants to dissolve the DOE. I would encourage him not to completely dissolve it or to keep it somewhere standing alone. The issue is that the Family Policy Compliance Office is the ONLY office that enforces violations of FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. If there is no FPCO office, parents will have no recourse to enforce FERPA at all, as courts have found the law has no private right of action. Either that or please lead an effort to have FERPA amended to add a private right of action. Without addressing this problem, parents will not be able to get access to their child’s records or to have hearings over disputed entries unless the child is a special education kid or there is a state law allowing for it. I’d prefer to see FERPA amended to be honest but dissolving USDOE without addressing this could lead to problems.

1 Like