Abstract:
Educational institutions are required either by law or by necessity to maintain records on students. Prior to the passage of the "Buckley Amendment," more commonly known as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), K-12 and postsecondary school officials maintained, used, and shared records according to their own discretion. Although amended several times since the United States Congress passed FERPA in 1974, FERPA retains the Act's two initial overarching purposes: (1) permitting and/or increasing the access by students and parents to their educational records, and (2) protecting their rights to privacy by restricting or limiting the disclosure of their educational records without their consent. As litigation expands in the school environment, school administrators should be aware of the legal and ethical implications involved in the collection, maintenance, and dissemination of student records. As FERPA is the primary federal law governing the management of student records, and extensive case law demonstrates that FERPA allows for a number of opportunities for litigation, school officials must be acutely aware of not only the provisions of FERPA, but also, how FERPA interacts with other law. FERPA has been the subject of much criticism as practitioners, jurists, and scholars have lamented over the Act's ambiguity and sparse legislative history. This qualitative study was rooted in the review of the case law; the idea being that familiarity with the judicial decisions interpreting the scope and application of FERPA would contribute to an increased understanding of FERPA. Through an increased understanding of FERPA, educators can reduce the potential for litigation and the time-consuming labor that often arises out of the management of student records.
