Dive Brief:

• Resistance is building against the Indiana Network of Knowledge (INK), a portal that links student data to state labor data, making it easy to track a person from kindergarten to career.  
• The state's House approved INK in January, but, resistance is growing now that "big data" and privacy concerns have become such hot topics.   
• The database is meant to help the state's education system match the needs of employers, who struggle with a skills gap, but critics are concerned about security and the possibility the data could be shared or sold.

Dive Insight:

While the data concerns may or may not have validity, another question that INK raises is the purpose of education. As the bill's author, Rep. Steven Braun (R), explained in January, “This bill is an important first step in Indiana’s effort to align our workforce and educational training with the skill sets required by our state employers both today and in the future."

In addition to tracking and analyzing student data and performance, INK legislation will provide grants to charter schools and management companies that partner with businesses that train students, and tax credits will be given to partnering businesses.