K12 SIX Applauds Launch of K12 Education Cybersecurity Council K12 SIX

pOn March 28 2024 the US Department of Educationin coordination with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISAheld the kickoff meeting of the Education Facilities Subsector Government Coordinating Council GCC designed to facilitate formal ongoing collaboration between all levels of government and the education sector on issues of K12 cybersecurity risk management Organized in response to the growing frequency and severity of cybersecurity incidents being experienced by school systems nationwide the convening of the GCC was in fulfillment of White House commitments made in August 2023 and in response to US Government Accountability Office GAO reports requested by Members of Congress 2021 2022 The launch of the GCC marks an inflection point for the K12 education sector bringing it on par with other critical infrastructure sectors and subsectors that have previously established such stakeholder councils ppK12 Security Information eXchange K12 SIX and representatives of its membership are pleased to sit alongside other key stakeholder organizations on the GCC such as AASA Association of Educational Service Agencies Consortium for School Networking Council of Administrators of Special Education Council of Chief State School Officers Council of Great City Schools National Association of Elementary School Principals National Association of Secondary School Principals National Association of State CIOs National Rural Education Association National School Boards Association and State Educational Technology Directors AssociationppFollowing the kickoff meeting K12 SIX Director Doug Levin applauded the Administrations commitment to addressing the emerging cybersecurity needs of the K12 sector Cybersecurity incidents experienced by school systems nationwide have demonstrated that the K12 sector both needs and deserves support specifically tailored to its unique context We applaud the US Department of Education for fulfilling its commitmentin partnership with CISAto launching the Education Facilities Subsector GCC and strengthening collaboration among and between members of the K12 community and the Federal government K12 SIX looks forward to working alongside GCC stakeholders to increase the cybersecurity resilience of the nations school systemspp 2024 K12 Security Information eXchange a Global Resilience Federation GRF Community Data and Privacyp