About TEC SDPA
Established in 1968, The Education Cooperative (TEC) is a Massachusetts public educational collaborative and 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. TEC develops and coordinates programs to meet the needs of our member communities and their students, promoting inter-district collaboration that strengthens all participants.
The TEC Student Data Privacy Alliance (TEC SDPA) was launched in 2017 to provide school districts with administrative and legal support for negotiating privacy terms with software vendors. This service was developed in response to the needs of TEC member districts' Technology Directors, who found securing signed Data Privacy Agreements (DPAs) to be an expensive and time-consuming struggle without dedicated resources and legal funding.
School districts around the country were facing similar challenges, and we soon began providing our services to school districts in states beyond Massachusetts. By collaborating, we achieve economies of scale and leverage our negotiating strength resulting in reduced costs and improved efficiencies for all. Using the Student Data Privacy Consortium’s National DPA template, TEC has developed a multi-state DPA for Massachusetts, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia. This agreement outlines vendor responsibilities for protecting student data in compliance with all federal privacy laws, including FERPA, PPRA, COPPA, and all applicable state laws.
Today, our service supports over 1,000 districts across these states, providing expert legal counsel and experienced contract administrators. With more than 1,800 signed vendor agreements and 30,000+ posted DPAs/Exhibit Es, joining the TEC Student Data Privacy Alliance offers immediate access to these resources to jump-start student data protection.
Special thanks to our TEC SDPA Steering Committee members for their leadership and support.
TEC SDPA Steering Committee
