II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1631

To amend the General Education Provisions Act to allow parents access

to certain information.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 11, 1998

Mr. HUTCHINSON (for himself, Mr. DEWINE, Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire,

Mr. CRAIG, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. FAIRCLOTH, and Mr.

HELMS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To amend the General Education Provisions Act to allow

parents access to certain information.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Parental Freedom of

5 Information Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. INFORMATION ACCESS AND CONSENT.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 444 of the General Edu8 cation Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g) is amended by

9 adding at the end the following:
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•S 1631 IS

1 ‘‘(i) INSTRUCTIONAL AND TESTING MATERIALS.—

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No funds shall be made

3 available under any applicable program to any edu4 cational agency or institution that has a policy of de5 nying, or that effectively prevents, the parent of an

6 elementary school or secondary school student served

7 by such agency or at such institution, as the case

8 may be, the right to inspect and review any instruc9 tional material used with respect to the educational

10 curriculum of, or testing material administered to,

11 the student. Each educational agency or institution

12 shall establish appropriate procedures for the grant13 ing of a request by parents for access to the instruc14 tional material or testing material within a reason15 able period of time, but in no case more than 30

16 days after the request has been made.

17 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:

18 ‘‘(A) INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL.—The

19 term ‘instructional material’ means a textbook,

20 audio/visual material, manual, journal, film,

21 tape, or any other material supplementary to

22 the educational curriculum of a student.

23 ‘‘(B) TESTING MATERIAL.—The term ‘test24 ing material’ means a copy of any test (without

25 responses) that is administered to a student
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1 during the current or preceding school year,

2 and if available, any statistical comparison data

3 regarding the test results with respect to the

4 student’s age or grade level. The term does not

5 include a nonclassroom diagnostic test, a stand6 ardized assessment or standardized achievement

7 test, or a test subject to a copyright agreement.

8 ‘‘(j) RIGHT OF ACCESS.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A parent of an elementary

10 school or secondary school student whose right to

11 gain access to information or material made avail12 able to the parent under this section during the 30-

13 day compliance period set forth in subsection (a)(1)

14 or (i)(1) is knowingly or negligently violated may

15 maintain an action for appropriate relief after the

16 last day of such period. Appropriate relief includes

17 equitable or declaratory relief and reasonably in18 curred litigation costs, including a reasonable attor19 ney’s fee.

20 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—A civil action under this

21 subsection may not commence more than 2 years

22 after the last day of the 30-day compliance period

23 set forth in subsection (a)(1) or (i)(1).

24 ‘‘(k) PARENTAL CONSENT.—No funds shall be made

25 available under any applicable program to an educational
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1 agency or institution that, as part of an applicable pro2 gram and without the prior written, informed consent of

3 the parent of a student, requires the student—

4 ‘‘(1) to undergo medical, psychological, or psy5 chiatric examination, testing, treatment, or immuni6 zation (except in the case of a medical emergency);

7 or

8 ‘‘(2) to reveal any information about the stu9 dent’s personal or family life (except to the extent

10 necessary to comply with the Child Abuse Prevention

11 and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.)).’’.

12 (b) RIGHT OF ACCESS.—The third sentence of sec13 tion 444(a)(1)(A) of the General Education Provisions Act

14 (20 U.S.C. 1232g(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking

15 ‘‘forty-five’’ and inserting ‘‘30’’.

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