Transparency News 2/19/19

Tuesday
February 19, 2019

state & local news stories

"The Transparency Caucus is done with politics as usual. We don’t like the smoke and mirrors.”

Remember that viral video of Delegate Kathy Tran explaining her bill on late-term abortion? Don’t look for an official video because lawmakers do not record or archive subcommittees. Delegate Mark Levine is a Democrat from Alexandria who says that’s wrong. “More than half of all bills in the General Assembly die in subcommittee. Subcommittee is where bills are first heard. It’s where bills are first amended. It’s where tough questions are first raised.” That’s why he’s working with Republican Senator Amanda Chase of Chesterfield to request the clerks of the House and Senate to broadcast all subcommittee meetings. “Because right now it’s completely off the radar. I’m done with politics as usual. The Transparency Caucus is done with politics as usual. We don’t like the smoke and mirrors.”
WVTF

The Richmond School Board is set to vote Tuesday on a budget that would eliminate a fifth of the city school system’s central office staff. The specific jobs that are being cut have not been made public. The group went into closed session during its four work sessions to discuss cutting jobs as part of a broader $13 million slashing of its $300.1 million operating budget. Those deliberations, happening because of a budget deficit, have left community members and employees in the dark over whose jobs are on the line. Superintendent Jason Kamras said the discussions needed to happen in closed session in order to protect the identities of employees.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Out-of-state donors to candidates for state and local elections in Virginia will continue to be treated the same as contributors living in the Old Dominion, after the state Senate killed a bill that would have required all contributions from out-of-state donors to be made public. Legislation patroned by Del. David Yancey (R-Newport News) would have required all out-of-state donations to be publicly reported, no matter their size.
InsideNoVa

stories of national interest

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act generally prevents schools from sharing student data without parental consent, but according to a set of frequently asked questions released Tuesday by the Department of Education, exceptions to this otherwise consistent law can be made. In the event of epidemic disease outbreak or a campus shooting, for instance, a school could legally share students’ education records with designated personnel and law enforcement officers. This is one insight offered by a 37-question FAQ document that aims to clarify the responsibilities of schools and districts under FERPA, the federal 1974 law that governs how much student and educational data can be disclosed and to whom. The new resource explains general FERPA requirements, the type of information protected by the student privacy law and exceptions to FERPA’s written consent mandate.
EdScoop

A federal judge imposed a gag order on Friday in the case of Republican political consultant Roger Stone. Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered that lawyers and others in the case must not talk about it publicly in ways that "pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice" and specifically they must not use the area outside court in Washington, D.C., as a venue for those kinds of statements. Jackson wrote in her order she has responsibilities to protect the ability to seat an impartial jury and "maintain the dignity and seriousness of the courthouse and these proceedings."
NPR

A trove of more than 800 pages of emails sheds new light on the working relationship between Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, one of the most potent power couples in Washington — including their dealings with McConnell supporters from their home state of Kentucky.  Chao has met at least 10 times with politicians and business leaders from the state in response to requests from McConnell’s office, according to documents provided to POLITICO by the watchdog group American Oversight.  American Oversight obtained the emails under the Freedom of Information Act.
Politico
 

"The new resource explains general FERPA requirements, the type of information protected by the student privacy law and exceptions to FERPA’s written consent mandate."

editorials & columns

"We’re 100 percent committed to transparency, which is why we released overall numbers about personnel cuts. But we’re also committed to treating people with respect and dignity."

The secrecy of the meetings has some RPS employees and community members upset. Many are questioning what they see as a lack of transparency. One former teacher, Deanna Fierro, told the RTD, “It would be in good faith to allow individuals to advocate for keeping programs or their positions.” RPS school superintendent Jason Kamras explains: “We’re 100 percent committed to transparency, which is why we released overall numbers about personnel cuts. But we’re also committed to treating people with respect and dignity, which is why we felt it would be highly inappropriate to discuss individual job cuts in public.” We agree with Kamras. The decisions that the School Board makes will cost 49 people their salaries. Nobody wants to lose their job. For the School Board to have that discussion in public would indeed invite “mass chaos,” as Vice Chairwoman Liz Doerr noted. All would be advocating to keep their positions.
Richmond Times-Dispatch