Linux-related job postings - Hopkinton NH School District

[Randy Edwards]

 > Has anyone contacted the state DOE and explained the security issues
 > involved here and why this is a very bad thing so that perhaps they
 > might pressure the testing contractor to use a more secure system.

   I know a couple of the DOE's tech consultants and I'll be amazed if someone 
could make any headway on this.  They're aware of what Linux is and have an 
idea of what it can do, but there's no real moves to be compatible.

   They acknowledge IE's and Windows' security problems, but the general 
attitude is that everyone uses Windows and so there's nothing you can do 
about it.  The state shops based on price first and foremost, and given the 
decentralized nature of the local schools they're leery of interfering with 
them.

 > I am not a technical person, but based on my limited knowledge I believe
 > you are saying the contractor supplying the state mandated testing is
 > requiring every school in the state to make at least part of their
 > network and likely the part containing the most sensitive data about
 > students and staff vulnerable to known security flaws.

   I'm not sure of the specifics of this case, but in the various edtech 
positions I've had, protocol sanity/purity is one of the first issues I 
tackle.  It's far easier than fighting the battles needed to change apps, and 
once biases toward generic protocols are implemented in policy, it lays the 
groundwork to make future battles both (a) more sane and (b) more likely to 
win.

   As far as security and schools go, please, don't get me started!  You'd be 
amazed at how many schools are outsourcing private student/class data to both 
insecure and marketing-driven commercial companies.  Every time I've 
approached this issue in NH public schools, I always got the response of 
something like, "yes, it'd be nice to follow those student privacy laws, but 
we live in the real world and some compromises have to be made..."

 Regards,
 .
 Randy

-- 
"Speaking the truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- 
George Orwell