<p>Historically, the Office of Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) has served as the largest, publicly available resource documenting comprehensive academic and social outcomes for all U.S. public school students. Despite its widespread use by scholars and policymakers to confront persistent challenges in PK-12 education, key limitations remain, including the politicalization of data to present a colorblind picture of “All Americans”. Furthermore, CRDC’s rich education data has not been systematically integrated with other national and state datasets, including those related to health, mental health, employment, and juvenile justice, limiting a holistic understanding of students’ academic experiences and school discipline outcomes. At a time when publicly available data is being restricted, wrongfully manipulated, or used to violate civil liberties through private firms and AI, communities that rely on the CRDC and other public datasets to pinpoint inequities and solutions require a mechanism to protect and safely integrate data across multiple repositories. This commentary argues for a strategic reframing using a Data Integration Ethical Framework that seeks to prioritize research that continues to disaggregate data, support policy development and programmatic interventions for students most in need and explores the potential of establishing a centralized framework linking national and statewide social, academic, and behavioral data to support populations most at need.</p>