dudeone Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Suit targets 'locator' chips in Texas student IDs By PAUL J. WEBER | Associated Press – Tue, Nov 27, 2012 http://news.yahoo.co...-214545307.html AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — To 15-year-old Andrea Hernandez, the tracking microchip embedded in her student ID card is a "mark of the beast," sacrilege to her Christian faith — not to mention how it pinpoints her location, even in the school bathroom. But to her budget-reeling San Antonio school district, those chips carry a potential $1.7 million in classroom funds. Starting this fall, the fourth-largest school district in Texas is experimenting with "locator" chips in student ID badges on two of its campuses, allowing administrators to track the whereabouts of 4,200 students with GPS-like precision. Hernandez's refusal to participate isn't a twist on teenage rebellion, but has launched a debate over privacy and religion that has forged a rare like-mindedness between typically opposing groups. When Hernandez and her parents balked at the so-called SmartID, the school agreed to remove the chip but still required her to wear the badge. The family refused on religious grounds, stating in a lawsuit that even wearing the badge was tantamount to "submission of a false god" because the card still indicated her participation. A state district judge had been expected to decide Wednesday whether Northside Independent School District could transfer Hernandez to a different campus. But the family's attorney said late Tuesday that the hearing was cancelled after the school district asked that the case be moved to federal court. A new hearing hasn't been set. "How often do you see an issue where the ACLU and Christian fundamentalists come together? It's unusual," said Chris Steinbach, the chief of staff for a Republican state lawmaker who has filed a bill to outlaw the technology in Texas schools. The concept isn't new, but hasn't exactly caught on nationwide. In 2005, the American Civil Liberties Union raised concerns about a similar initiative at a California school. That same year, a suburbanHouston school district began putting the chips in its student IDs, and served as the blueprint for Northside's pilot program that began this fall. Ronald Stephens, executive director of the nonprofit National School Safety Center, said he didn't believe the technology to be widespread but predicted "it'll be the next wave" in schools. The chips use radio-frequency identification (RFID) transmitters and only work on campus. The Northside school district spent roughly $261,000 to equip students at one high school and one middle school with SmartIDs, a decision made with safety and efficiency in mind, said district spokesman Pascual Gonzalez. Imagine quickly accounting for students in the event of a lockdown, he said, or cafeteria lines moving faster as scanners instantly identify who's picking up that lunch tray. Yet the biggest motivation was financial. In Texas, school funding is based on daily attendance. The more students seated in homeroom when the first bell rings, the more state dollars the school receives. If a student is lingering in the hallway or the library when roll is called, the marked absence hurts the school's bottom line. But with the locator chips — the district doesn't like to call them "tracking" — a clerk in the main office can find out if a student is elsewhere on campus, and if so, include them in the attendance count. Every student found amounts to another $30 in funding, based on the school's calculations. In that way, those moving red dots that represent students on the clerk's computer screen are like finding change in the couch cushions. Gonzalez said the district has estimated another $1.7 million in funding if the program delivers on expectations, somewhat lessening the sting of losing $61.5 million after state lawmakers cut public school funding in Texas by nearly $5 billion last year. "Nobody is sitting at a bank of monitors looking for the whereabouts of 3,000 students," Gonzalez said. "We don't have the personnel for it, nor do we have the need to do that. But when I need to find (a student), I can enter his random number and I can find him somewhere as a red dot on that computer screen. 'Oh, there he is, in Science Room 22' or whatever. So we can locate students, but it's not about tracking them." Hernandez's family isn't convinced. Nor is a Virginia-based civil rights group, The Rutherford Institute, which took up Hernandez's cause and filed the lawsuit against the district. The organization declined to make the Hernandez family available for an interview Tuesday, before the Wednesday court hearing had been cancelled. John Whitehead, the organization's founder, believes the religious component of the lawsuit makes it stronger than if it only objected on grounds of privacy. The lawsuit cites scriptures in the book of Revelation, stating that "acceptance of a certain code ... from a secular ruling authority" is a form of idolatry. Wearing the badge, the family argues, takes it a step further. "It starts with that religious concern," Whitehead said. "There is a large mark of Evangelicals that believe in the 'mark of the beast.' " Republican state Rep. Lois Kolkhorst has filed bills since 2005 to ban the chips in Texas public schools. Steinbach, her chief of staff, is hopeful the bill will now get more traction with the attention surrounding Hernandez's case. Yet despite the lawsuit, proposed legislation and concern from outside groups, there are no signs of a groundswell of opposition in San Antonio from parents whose children have the chips in their campus IDs. Gonzalez said that of the 4,200 students, the Hernandez family is the only one who has asked out of the program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avelanch Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 locator chips for the students seems like it's going a bit far... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grapefruits Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 20 bucks says she owns a cell phone with gps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SterlingArcher Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 locator chips for the students seems like it's going a bit far... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Common sense Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 20 bucks says she owns a cell phone with gps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Colt 45s Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 My workplace ID has an RFID in it. It also has all my finger prints, finger blood vessel patterns, and biometrics on it. Then again, I work in a confidential department. The fact is there is no need for this level of tracking/control at the public school level. It is just another example of a school district getting lost on the fundamentals of education by spending money on superfluous things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jägermeister Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 They're making the right argument for the wrong reasons. They should be fighting against locater chips because it infringes on their privacy, not because it infringes on their religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weber's Playoff Beard Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 I personally don't understand this whole privacy thing. Why does it matter if the school knows I went to take a ****? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Doesn't the mark of the beast have to appear on the forehead or right hand, according to the book of revelations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 So this seems like an added expense when schools are having funding cut all the time. The point about it being like finding change in the couch might even be overselling it, since even if they are getting extra money for each student in attendance, what is the cost for each card/chip when including replacement costs as students lose them or they're damaged/stolen, etc. The point about them getting the extra money if a student is missed in roll call because they aren't in class but are on campus is interesting, but is that student learning anything if they don't ever show up and are just messing around somewhere else. Why can the teacher taking homeroom attendance just mark them attending but late if they don't show up on time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain Man Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I say all the kids swap there ID cards and see how the school functions with this silly system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Colt 45s Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 You have to remember that Texas school districts will spend a million dollars for new grass for a football field that is used by 30 students, but somehow they cannot afford to purchase textbooks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Ambien Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 They're making the right argument for the wrong reasons. They should be fighting against locater chips because it infringes on their privacy, not because it infringes on their religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hudson bay rules Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 You have to remember that Texas school districts will spend a million dollars for new grass for a football field that is used by 30 students, but somehow they cannot afford to purchase textbooks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harbinger Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Why is infringing on their religion the wrong reason? They have the right to both. I have a problem with all three major points: - Infringement on privacy. - Infringement on religion. - Huge waste of money, American states and counties/cities/districts aren't exactly rich enough to fund stupid stuff like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surtur Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 You have to remember that Texas school districts will spend a million dollars for new grass for a football field that is used by 30 students, but somehow they cannot afford to purchase textbooks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Ambien Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 It doesn't actually infringe on their religion. They just say it does. Their religion is still tolerated at the school. They are free to practice it at the school. They aren't being alienated at school. They just want to be coddled by using the religion side of the argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harbinger Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 They are not free to practice their religion, and their religion is not tolerated, if they are not allowed exception with participating in something that blatantly goes against their religion. Your statement is wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Ambien Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 You find me the spot in the bible where it says no RFID's and don't give me the mark of the beast BS since that is just nonesense and very clear about what the mark will be and where it will be found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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