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CHILDREN'S FINGERPRINTING RILES MICHIGAN PARENTS

fingerprint graphic January 29, 1998 Web posted at: 3:51 p.m. EST (2051 GMT)

DETROIT (AP) -- Parents and legal experts have identified a problem with Michigan standardized testing -- 122,000 fifth-graders provided their fingerprints without permission.

The public-school children had to fill out a "Fingerprint Investigation Journal" as part of the science segment on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program.

"It's offensive," said Andrea Lang of St. Clair Shores, who learned that her 10-year-old daughter provided fingerprints for the test last week. "It's an invasion of privacy. Only criminals get their fingerprints taken."

The fingerprint journal was merely a hands-on experiment designed to make the science portion of the test more interesting, Peter Bunton of the MEAP office, said Wednesday.

State law says that with few exceptions, children's fingerprints can't be obtained without parents' permission. Bunton said he was unaware of the law.

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