News & Commentary

Mia’s high school peers are completing class assignments from their school parking lot because they, like many families in their rural Maryland community, lack access to internet at home. Delina, a high school junior from Arizona, has to wait until all her younger siblings finish their schoolwork using the one computer at home before she can use it to start hers. One student from New Jersey fears that the lack of privacy protections for students using remote learning technology puts their mom at increased risk of deportation. This is the reality of education in America during the COVID-19 crisis, according to the students who’ve shared their experiences with the ACLU. Students recently thrust into distance learning by school closures are worried they’ll fall behind their peers — or even have to repeat the school year — simply because their families can’t afford high-speed internet or a computer. Others fear marketers and other companies are collecting, storing, and even sharing their highly personal information because current remote learning technologies lack basic privacy protections. We’re calling on Congress and state and local governments nationwide to take immediate decisive action to address the current education crisis in America. In letters sent to state and local officials in 23 states, we’re demanding all students have equal access to the technologies that make effective remote learning possible, and that states and school districts mandate the implementation of strong and uniform privacy safeguards to protect students when they are engaged in remote learning.

The spirit of the youth protest that peaked during Kent State and Watergate, and was marked by the Vietnam War and the resignation of Nixon, is as alive and evident as ever today.

To be true angels during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, tech companies providing free remote learning apps should disable features that spy on students and suck up their private, personal information.

As an organization deeply devoted to both academic freedom and free association, we won’t stand by it.

In the United States, nobody is above the law — not even CBP. We will continue to fight in legislatures, in courtrooms, and on the streets to hold CPB accountable for its deplorable and illegal behavior.

In January, I transferred to a private school. I decided I would never feel safe in a school where teachers carry guns.

Now that was exactly what was happening, except it was the police accusing him of something he didn’t do. Those men are supposed to protect him, not falsely accuse him or beat him up.

"To the kids who are not out because they feel it's dangerous to be out, or because they are not ready yet: That's okay."

The 2019 Florida Legislative Session was the most dangerous and threatening to Floridians’ civil liberties and civil rights in over a decade.