Nothing like a group of unelected government agents (teachers) teaching children that its "OK" to be tracked and monitored.

There are other ways to monitor school attendance than having people wear location tracking devices. Whoever came up with that ought to be sacked. Scary BS.

I guess the webcams planted in the kids' bedrooms weren't enough.

ID badges containing radio tags started to be introduced at the start of the 2012 school year to schools run by San Antonio's Northside Independent School District (NISD). The tracking tags gave NISD a better idea of the numbers of students attending classes each day - the daily average of which dictates how much cash it gets from state coffers.

That may be the clue here, not only how much cash from state coffers, but is the school also getting funds to be part of an introductory chip program/schools?

Did you notice they were called "Smart" Student ID cards?

"Smart" used once again, smart growth, smart meters, smart cars, what next?

In reading several different news stories about this incident, it is rather unsettling how the school officials are so insistent on coercing this girl to conform to their program. Very reminiscent of what we have heard about lfe in totalitarian countries.

Soon to be part of this collection:

http://iai.lib.wvu.edu/

Apparently private companies can also access the school’s database and track the students anywhere and everywhere. This is the Blue Democrat’s dream. Any student involved in any non PC activity can get sanctioned and ostracized. The Fortune 500 entertainment companies can segment and coerce the kids to buy their products. What a win for Apple, Disney, Warner Bros, MTV and all the rappers.

Smart cards, indeed! To quote the late, great satirist Henry Morgan:
"They're educational. Try one. That'll teach you."

smart growth, smart meters, smart cars, what next?

Not smart graduates, I'm thinking.

We must implement this everywhere as it is much much to hard for a teacher to make check marks next to a students name as they do a roll call.
Why if teachers were forced to call a roll of the class they might actually learn who their students are.
And lord knows we can't have that.

It is ironic that the very country that for decades declared itself defender of freedom from tyranny slowly turns into what it once most feared.

Ironic that the school is named for John Jay. Who was he? Better ask the administration if they know.

What a wonderful opportunity to bash teachers, even though the article doesn't say anything about teachers, who likely had no say in the decision. Most likely had to go through the (elected) school board. Y'all are getting coal in your stockings.

Teachers off the hook? Dallas to donuts that the chips are in the teacher IDs as well.

In a related article on the badges the administration was complaining how they just could not get an accurate headcount each day.
Now last time I was in class that meant the teacher called roll.
Perhaps we have absolved them of that task and are paying yet another person to breath and count heads.

Without those RFID chips, teachers would have to learn the NAMES of their students and CALL ROLL?

THAT would be a change in working conditions and is part of collective bargaining.

That's going to cost extra.

Although I am not sure I like the idea of giving the kids "smart cards"...

At every job I've had for the last 15 years I have had a card that is required to unlock doors and grant me access. Yes, this information can be logged.

I have to sign into a phone that is essentially my "time clock", it identies who I am, where I am and at what time.

I have to log into a computer, and then multiple applications/databases, for security. Again, all of these can track who I am, where I am (IP address of computer) and time.

While there is a world of difference between my work in which my employer and I must comply with state and federal laws regarding utility security and customer privacy, it is a reality of life that if you work for someone there is going to be measurements of who you are, where you are, at what time are you somewhere, and what are you doing and why. I can't just willy nilly pull up someone's account without good reason, or make changes to an account without good cause. I can't reverse charges (or add charges) unless I can justify it.

It is only a matter of time before students will have computers at each desk/classroom and they'll have to log in and out of the computer at the start and end of the class...which will effectively create the log of who and where they are, and at what time.