Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) reacted today to the news that inBloom, the data service company responsible for collecting student data for New York State, is closing and ending its cloud-based services. This comes on the heels of the state ordering the deletion of existing student records possessed by inBloom in the wake of parental outcry over Common Core’s testing and private data sharing.

“With New York changing direction in the wake of Common Core’s disastrous implementation and parents’ concerns over the collection of their children’s private information, inBloom’s services were no longer necessary,” said Ra. “Prior to their closure, we held hearings with the state Department of Education and inBloom. Neither was able to provide satisfactory answers to the many questions presented by elected officials and parents. Going forward, any data facilitation undertaking involving the Department of Education and our children must address these issues, namely parental consent and basic privacy concerns.

“Now that our children’s personal data is no longer at risk, we can work on remedying the other structural flaws in Common Core: the rigorous high-stakes over-testing of our students, and the curriculum that is doing a disservice to teachers and kids alike.”