Kirk bill's focus is on student safety

Rep. Mark Kirk admits teachers and school administrators already have the right to search a student's bag or locker if they suspect weapons or drugs are inside.

But the Highland Park Republican says he worries teachers may not be using that right.

"I don't think that we can go too far in assuring safety in the classroom," Kirk said at a press conference Tuesday at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire that introduced the Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2007, a bill he co-sponsors.

The act says teachers can search student possessions if there is a "reasonable threat" to other students or teachers.

The Supreme Court has already ruled schools have the right to conduct such searches, but Paul Kimmelman, chairman of Kirk's education committee, said clarity was needed.

The bill, Kimmelman said, "will enable teachers to have more assurance there won't be lawsuits."

Janet Joy, a fourth-grade teacher at Windsor Elementary School in Arlington Heights, agreed.

"My primary concern is to educate children," she said. "I can educate them only if it is a safe environment … I want to have that freedom to check."

Kirk said the bill, previously introduced in Congress, sailed through the House and fell flat in the Senate merely due to timing concerns. He said the only opposition he heard of to the proposal was from the ACLU.

But Ed Yohnka, ACLU spokesman, said the bill doesn't break any new ground.

"It's no different than existing court rulings," Yohnka said. "We, frankly, hope that Congress would spend their time more productively."