This school year will see teachers across Monroe, Louisiana placing their palms facedown. The Monroe school system recently spent $100,000 installing "biometric hand-scanners" to monitor the comings and goings of teachers and staff. Upon entering and leaving school each day, employees must punch in an identification number and then place their hands palm down on a sensor.

According to the school district the investment makes sense because the clocks will streamline record keeping, allow offices to "track the whereabouts of district-wide employees" (this is where it gets creepy), and help the school system fight lawsuits over wages. Not surprisingly, teachers view the scanners as both wasteful and demeaning.