ARTICLE TAG

Uninterrupted Scholars Act

5/1/2013

The Kids May Be All Right

California lawmakers move towards clarity on whether the sweeping educational reforms they propose will help the state’s 42,000 school-aged foster youth or throw away three decades of national leadership on the issue; while brand new data shows that students in foster care are “at greater risk” for compromised educational outcomes.

2/8/2013

Researcher Access to Education Records is Still School’s Choice

In mid-January, President Barack Obama signed into law the Uninterrupted Scholars Act, which amends the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act  to grant child welfare workers direct access to the education records of children in state or county care.

1/15/2013

Obama Signs Bill to Speed Up Transfer of Foster Youth School Records

The Uninterrupted Scholars Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama on Monday, paving the way for easier access to the education records of foster youths by their caseworkers. “The records of foster youth could not be easily obtained by the agency with custody of them, and that made no sense whatsoever to us,” said Sen.

1/8/2013

Capitol View on Kids: New Congress, Same Problems

On Thursday, January 3, 2013 the new congress began minutes after the 112th ended.  The 113th Congress includes many new faces and slightly different numbers, but it also began with the first of many carry-over issues.

The United States Capitol

12/10/2012

Capitol View on Kids: Mixed Reading on Fiscal Cliff

Time continues to wind down toward the end of 2012, which is also the deadline to get an agreement on federal budget and tax policy before America goes over the so-called fiscal cliff.

9/18/2012

Congress Rolling on Uninterrupted Scholars Act

Last week, members of Congress converged on Washington, D.C. for a short legislative session before the elections. In short order, the Uninterrupted Scholars Act (USA), which would amend education privacy laws to the benefit of foster children gained momentum.

    8/14/2012

    Sen. Mary Landrieu Talks Foster Care, Education and a Growing Movement

    On August 2nd, Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Mark Begich (D-Ala.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced  the Uninterrupted Scholars Act. The bill would amend education policy that currently precludes many adults and institutions from access to an individual student’s records.

    8/7/2012

    Post-Partisan: the Power of Foster Care Politics

    While the nation bemoans a “gridlocked” Congress and Comedy Central’s Messrs. Stewart and Colbert aptly ridicule both Presidential candidates for a disregard of specificity on one hand and hubris on the other, I have borne witness to a very different vision of our elected leadership.