On Halloween, we thought we’d examine a scary but sobering fact: Minneapolis taxpayers spent more than $355,000 to monitor students using remote learning tools during the COVID-19 pandemic. These monitors occur daily, even on weekends, weeknights, and even during other times when school wasn’t isn’t in session.
Most parents of Minneapolis students didn’t even learn of the ability of an outside vendor monitoring their student’s on-line activities until recently.
Gaggle, the Dallas-based company hired to monitor Minneapolis students, has programs that “scans students’ emails, chat messages and other materials uploaded to students’ Google or Microsoft accounts in search of keywords, imagines or videos that could indicate self-harm, violence or sexual behavior.
Moderators evaluate flagged material and notify school officials about content they find troubling.”
You can read the full report here.
