I agree with Zach Calef (“Time to rethink education views”) that the federal government has no place in the regulation of education.

The word “education” does not even appear in our federal Constitution, and as stated in the 10th Amendment, it is unconstitutional for the federal government to take on any other power. I also think the United States would be a lot better off without the Department of Education.

However, the 1998 lawsuit regarding student privacy has nothing to do with federal control of schools. It has to do with protecting citizens’ rights – the most important duty of a just government.

As a college student, Zach Calef ought to know that his right to keep his school records private is well-recognized. A university may not release any of his records without his personal approval, and most professors take care to distribute all grades (from quiz grades to final course grades) in a private fashion.

Does this limit competition? Not really. Each student is concerned with his own record, not that of the rest of the class.

He knows how his grade for almost any quiz or exam compares with the class mean, and his GPA enables him to request his class rank from his college. When he takes a standardized exam (ACT, SAT, GRE, MCAT), he gets a percentile ranking.

All this information is obtained without his knowing the record of any other student.

His right to privacy is thus protected while his educational environment remains competitive.

I think the educations (and lives) of grade school and high school students would be much improved if their rights were respected as are college students’. This would take a lot, though. It would require us as a society to recognize that minors are people too.

Kristen McCord

Graduate student

Agronomy