Senator Marco Rubio is a co-sponsor on S.1195 “Student Right To Know Before You Go Act of 2015.”  This legislation, according to the Common Core Report Card on the presidential candidates, “would create a federal database on students for at least 15 years after they enter the workforce. It is troubling that Rubio advocates a limited role for government in the activities of the American people, yet fails to see the problem with the governmental tracking and collecting data on all citizens.”

The main sponsor of S.1195,  Sen. Ron Wyden, [D-OR], says this legislation will, “provide college-bound students powerful new tools for comparing colleges and universities on measures such as total cost, likelihood of graduating, and potential earnings.”

Some of this information is already available.  With modern technology, a few searches on the internet will provide high school students with valuable information when making important decisions on where to attend college.

Neal McCluskey from the Cato Institute explains that, “there is little evidence it will actually help. The fact is that college costs, retention rates, earnings by major, etc., are all widely available but appear to be regularly ignored. 

More importantly, there are privacy concerns.  According to McCluskey, “As has been illustrated time and time again, barriers between bad guys and data — no matter what we are promised — are not impregnable. And it doesn’t appear that Know Before You Go would restrict data collection and publication to only people who participate in federal aid program, folks one could arguably assert willingly traded their privacy for federal dough.”

Parent Coalition for Student Privacy also took a position opposing S.1195.  Asking, “IS THE STUDENT RIGHT TO KNOW BILL WORTH THE RISK TO PRIVACY?”   They then went on to warn that this law, “would authorize the creation of a federal database of all college students, complete with their personally identifiable information, tracking them through college and into the workforce, including their earnings, Social Security numbers, and more.”

They believe that, “allowing the federal government to collect the personal data of all college students with no provision for consent or opt out is unacceptable – and would create huge risks to their privacy and safety.”

There is no need for the federal government to develop a new database on college students.  Unfortunately data-mining on students Pre-k through college and into the workforce is part of the Soviet style workforce training model that the Obama administration has been pushing for through reform initiatives like Common Core.

Statutes such as “the Soviet-style Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act” is designed to connect the K-12 education system to government-controlled workforce-development.  The Education Sciences Reform Act (which seeks to boost data-collection on students) require standards to focus on, “minimal workforce-development rather than academic knowledge……The federal government will determine “college-and career-readiness,” thus continuing its power grab on campuses.”

Senator Rubio’s co-sponsored legislation essentially helps the Obama administration collect the needed data on college students.  Not only does this help further Obamacore, it is a direct threat to their privacy.

McCluskey rightfully asks, “…. Where in the Constitution is any of this authorized? Right: Nowhere.”

In New Hampshire we are fortunate to vet presidential candidates as they campaign in our homes and towns.  It’s important to ask Senator Rubio to withdraw his support for this legislation that does nothing to help bring forth important information for college students, develops a new federal data-base jeopardizing privacy and certainly appears to violate the Constitution limiting the role of the federal government.

Ann Marie Banfield currently volunteers as the Education Liaison for Cornerstone Action in New Hampshire. She has been researching education reform for over a decade and actively supports parental rights, literacy and academic excellence in k-12 schools. You can reach her at: abanfield@nhcornerstone.org