Privacy Should Not Be Another Manifestation of Privilege
4 min read
Update: Since I put this post out this morning, I read about a lawsuit filed that would effectively halt data sharing with the NY State portal. End update.
Earlier this week, Leonie Haimson posted a list of districts in New York State that are opting out of the data sharing program set up by the state Department of Education, and returning Race to the Top money that had been earmarked for the data sharing program. When I saw the list, I was curious about any potential patterns among districts opting out of the state-run data program.
To be clear, there are real and valid privacy concerns in the state-run data program, and John King - New York's Education Commissioner - has done little to adress these concerns.
To get started, I pulled a list of all districts in New York State from NCES. The complete list I used is available here. I included district level data on the number of students receiving both free and reduced lunch, which is often used as a proxy for socioeconomic status. I did not look at any race/ethnicity data, although that would be interesting as well.
Statewide in New York, based on the dataset from 2010-2011 (the most recent available on NCES), just over 48% of students receive free or reduced lunch. None of the districts opting out and returning money come close to the average; only two districts have over 35% free and reduced lunch.
In the breakdown below, districts marked with an asterisk (*) have not yet opted out of data sharing, but are considering doing so. Also, please feel free to check my numbers. I included the steps I took to get these numbers to simplify the process of someone verifying or refining the information I included here.
Westchester County (10)
- Byram Hills | Free and Reduced Lunch: 1.33%
- Croton-Harmon | Free and Reduced Lunch: 0%
- * Dobbs Ferry | Free and Reduced Lunch: 10.52%
- Elmsford | Free and Reduced Lunch: 39.47%
- Hastings-on-Hudson | Free and Reduced Lunch: 5.47%
- Mount Pleasant | Free and Reduced Lunch: There are three districts that include Mount Pleasant in their name; because I can't be accurate, I'm omitting data here.
- Pelham | Free and Reduced Lunch: 4.32%
- Pleasantville | Free and Reduced Lunch: 5.17%
- Pocantico Hills | Free and Reduced Lunch: 12.91%
- Rye Neck | Free and Reduced Lunch: 10.64%
Rockland County (5)
- *Clarkstown | Free and Reduced Lunch: 6.09%
- *Nanuet | Free and Reduced Lunch: 11.87%
- Nyack | Free and Reduced Lunch: 22.93%
- Pearl River | Free and Reduced Lunch: 5.47%
- South Orangetown | Free and Reduced Lunch: 6.82%
Putnam County (3)
- Carmel Central | Free and Reduced Lunch: 14.76%
- Garrison | Free and Reduced Lunch: 0%
- Mahopac | Free and Reduced Lunch: 5.5%
Dutchess County (2)
- Hyde Park | Free and Reduced Lunch: 38.27%
- Spackenkill | Free and Reduced Lunch: 17.61%
Erie County (2)
- West Seneca | Free and Reduced Lunch: 27.50%
- Williamsville| Free and Reduced Lunch: 10.82%
Suffolk County (2)
- Comsewogue | Free and Reduced Lunch: 16.81%
- Southold | Free and Reduced Lunch: 12.78%
Nassau County (1)
- * Floral Park-Bellerose | Free and Reduced Lunch: 7.74%
Orange County (1)
- * Warwick | Free and Reduced Lunch: 11.14%
At this stage, districts maintaining privacy appear to be slanting heavily toward districts with more students of means. Unfortunately, the economics of this make sense: districts with more students and families of higher socioeconomic status are better able to return money. However, privacy is privacy, and the way this is currently breaking down is that people with more money (or living in neighborhoods with more money) are more able to buy greater privacy.
Privacy should not be another manifestation of privilege. Opting out of data sharing can't be limited only to districts with financial means.
As privacy advocates continue to do the work of raising awareness around the privacy concerns inherent in data sharing, we need to ensure that we protect the privacy rights of every child in public schools, regardless of their socioeconomic status.
