California judge orders release of 10 million student records.

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A federal judge for the Eastern District of California has ordered the release of about 10 million California public school students' records--including each child's name, Social Security number, address, mental health assessment, medical history, and test scores.

In her ruling, Judge Kimberly Mueller granted a small, parent-run, non-profit group working for the rights of disabled children access to the sensitive information of each student in kindergarten through 12th grade who has attended public school in California since Jan. 1, 2008. The records must be made available to a court-appointed data analyst so they can be analyzed on behalf of the Morgan Hill Unified School District parent group, according to USA Today.

The parent group is suing the California State Department of Education because it does not believe the state requires school districts to provide appropriate special education services for children needing them, as mandated under federal law. The California Concerned Parents Association, which advocates for students with disabilities statewide, joined Morgan Hill's lawsuit. The state vehemently denies the allegations and is defending itself against the lawsuit, a spokesman told USA Today.

The Concerned Parents group requested statewide data to prove its case that students with special needs are not being given adequate attention. But the parent groups said they never asked for, nor do they want, students' personally identifiable information.

"We asked repeatedly, many times, for the data without identifiable information," the group's president, Linda McNulty, told the San Jose Mercury Sun. She said the state...

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