From Draft NOtices, October-December 2006
—Rick Jahnkow
Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed Assembly Bill 1778, legislation that would have required California high schools to redesign their student emergency cards to help parents and students opt out when school lists are given to military recruiters (see the July-September Draft NOtices).
The reasons Schwarzenegger gave for not signing the bill were in a veto message to the legislature:
State and federal law already require school districts to notify parents of the types of student information that they release to the public. The notice must include an explanation of a parent’s right to request that the information not be disclosed without prior written consent and the method and timeline for making such a request. Ultimately, I believe that schools should maintain the flexibility to develop their own procedures to ensure compliance with state and federal laws without the state dictating how procedures are implemented.
Schwarzenegger’s veto message suggests that he was misinformed about at least one aspect of the existing federal law on opt-out. Contrary to his assertion, the language of the existing law does not require schools to give a specific method or timeline for students and parents to exercise their right to opt out. The lack of such guidelines is one of the reasons why the bill was introduced by Assemblyperson Sally Lieber.