124th MAINE LEGISLATURE
		LD 1356		LR 531(02)
	An Act To Improve the Ability of the Department of Education To Conduct Longitudinal Data Studies
	Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment "   "
	Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
	Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Fiscal Note
Potential State Mandate - Unfunded
State Mandates
	Required Activity				Unit Affected	Local Cost
	This legislation provides that 1) the Commissioner of Education may require school administrative units (SAU's) to collect and report individual student social security numbers; and that 2) if SAU's are required to collect and report individual social security numbers, local SAU's must include in the annual notice to parents, required under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), that the data is being collected, what the data will be used for and a request for the parents written consent to provide the information.				School	Moderate statewide
	The required local activities in this bill may represent a State mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine.  Unless General Fund appropriations are provided to fund at least 90% of the additional costs or a Mandate Preamble is amended to the bill and two-thirds of the members of each House vote to exempt this mandate from the funding requirement, municipalities may not be required to implement these changes.
Fiscal Detail and Notes
	According to information provided by the Department of Education, the Commissioner will not require school administrative units to collect and report individual student social security numbers unless and until additional federal funding is received to expand the Department's current K-12 longitudinal data system to a statewide system that will also include postsecondary and workforce information.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes $250 million to the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences for competitive grants for statewide data systems.  The U.S. Department of Education plans to award half that money in June or July of this year, with the balance being awarded in September and October of 2009.
	Additional costs to the Department of Education to prepare and send the required administrative letter can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources.