Dive Brief:

• James Palermo had been trying to get the list of PISA schools under the Massachusetts  Public Records law since 2014, and ultimately sued to obtain a judge's order for their release.
• The state's objection, reports the Daily Hampshire Gazette, is based on claims that "the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics — which coordinates participation in the assessment — does not allow the release of information identifying specific schools and districts."
• The case pits ESEA language against Massachusetts  Public Records law, and the state will likely appeal the judge's order to release the list. 

Dive Insight:

The judge did not agree with the state's assertion of a confidentiality exception. "The names of schools and school districts, standing alone, say nothing whatsoever about any individual student and therefore cannot be considered to hold individual identifying information about a particular student," the decision said. "DESE's position that the confidentiality exemption covers the names of schools and school districts defies logic and a common sense application of the unambiguous language of the statute."

Palermo initially filed the request to collect information as part of his research on charter schools, which have been charged with operating opaquely and without accountability to taxpayers. Charter growth in Massachusetts has been controversial, and limitations have been set regarding how many new schools can open annually.