Should Schools Collect Student Social Security Numbers?

Starting this year, the Maryland State Department of Education is requiring each county school system to collect Social Security numbers for all registered students.

“While Maryland discontinued using student’s SSNs as unique identifiers in favor of assigned student ID numbers, the federal government has not,” read a statement on the Carroll County Public School website about the new policy.

“The MSDE has mandated that we have to at least ask parents to provide them so that we submit them to the state. However, locally no one sees the SSN except the person at the school who enters the data. The field is hidden to anyone who uses our student information system.”

The state is requesting the numbers as a part of the federal “Race to the Top Initiative,” which tracks the numbers of students who go on to college, employment, military and training schools.

It is not required that parents supply their child’s SSN to the school system. What are your thoughts? Are you going to submit your child’s information?