Joey Cresta provided careful coverage of the bogus student privacy rights issue that Common Core opponents are riding as hard as they can. He brackets the fictitious claims by the Pioneer Institute, a free market advocacy group funded by the Koch brothers and the Walton Foundation,with accurate statements from his own knowledge of the issues and by Heather Gage of the NH Dept of Education and Senator Nancy Stiles.

My post, Student data privacy is not at risk, includes Heather Gage’s authoritative 11 pager that leaves no room for debate on the privacy issue.

Here’s a sample from the Herald:

There is no reason to fear for children’s privacy rights due to the implementation of the Common Core educational standards, a state education official said.

A major talking point among critics of the Common Core is the standards’ ties to a perceived “ramping up” of student data collection, which is fueling fears of government invasion of children’s privacy.

The concerns are serving as a major talking point for the far right of the political spectrum. An article published in August on the conservative news and opinion Web site Breitbart.com is headlined “Children’s Privacy at Risk with Common Core Curriculum Standards.” The article states the Common Core has initiated “an entirely stealthy student-tracking database that will allow the government access to private information from birth onward.”

The claims are simply untrue, according to Heather Gage, director of the division of instruction at the state Department of Education.

See the whole piece at Student privacy rights at risk? – Portsmouth Herald
Pioneer gets 8 full paragraphs in which to sell its red herrings.  Readers learn that,

…[the Common Core] is part of a larger federal plan to expand on data collection and sharing on U.S. citizens.

and,

 “It’s the progressive dream to have this much data….”

And you’ll hear the chart-topping “400 data element” myth here again, as you do in every meeting with the Pioneer folks and their New Hampshire associates.

The Herald does its readers a great service in putting this issue to bed.