This article discusses a new state law which has stirred up a fierce dispute over privacy rights, as innocent school employees in Michigan have begun learning that they have been misidentified as criminals. The Student Safety Initiative, a series of laws that took effect January 1, required Michigan school districts to obtain criminal-background checks and digital fingerprints for the roughly 200,000 public school employees in the state. State law had already required fingerprints for teacher and other professional staff members who work directly with students. This new law mandates that the names of all school employees, whether they work with students or not, be run through a Michigan State Police criminal-history database every six months until July 2008, when all districts must have completed digital fingerprint records for employees. At least nine other states have similar laws requiring public school employees--from principals to custodians--to undergo criminal-history checks and have their fingerprints taken, according to the National Education Association. Results from the first round of background checks in Michigan have sparked angst and outrage among some employees and prompted the state's largest teachers' union to demand that the results be voided.