Are there people left who are naive enough to believe that secure Internet sites exist anywhere but in the minds of bureaucrats, itching to invade our privacy further? With thousands of agencies collecting, sharing and selling personal information, must we add Maine’s public school system to the roster?

Department of Education Commissioner Angela Faherty, Sen. Peter Mills, Gov. John Baldacci and state-level hearing attendees think so. They want our children’s Social Security numbers under the guise of benefiting the state’s education system (Sun Journal, Aug. 25). Before parents surrender those highly personal numbers; despite any law signed by any governor, know this: Tracking systems in the schools already exist. We call them “databases.”

Maine school systems can track any child by name, birth date, address, parent affiliation, progress, district and an infinite list of characteristics unique to each child. Once a child leaves the state, he or she is no longer Maine’s responsibility, other than maintaining transfer records. Contrary to Mills’ statement concerning a need for “a unique identifier,” accessing information already on file requires only one “unique identifier” — someone knowing which key to press on a computer.

Accolades for SAD 58’s Board of Directors for voting for parental rights. Unless Augusta graciously funds identity theft repair, benefits never outweigh inadvertent releases of personal data. If educational agencies spent more time doing their job instead of sticking their noses where they do not belong, perhaps our children would get the education for which we pay.

Roger R. Turcotte, Lewiston