In school hallways and at closed-door administrative meetings throughout the Chicago area Friday, those most affected had anything but silent moments as they debated the new law's merits and what it means. Among the questions: How long would a "moment" last? How would officials enforce or monitor the silence?

"I think it's ridiculous," said Mark Merklin, a sophomore at South Elgin High. "What's the punishment if you talk all through the moment of silence? Is there a fine or what?

" Many students and educators were caught off guard after the legislature on Thursday overrode Gov. Rod Blagojevich's veto of a measure that calls for silence but offered few guidelines on how to implement it. Each district will define the length of a "moment," as it thinks best, said a spokesman with the Illinois State Board of Education.

Although Chris Koch, state superintendent of education, has not taken a position on the new law, other administrators reacted in frustration that more important issues weren't being addressed. Neil Codell, superintendent of Niles Township High School District 219, said in a prepared statement that legislators "have moved to new heights of buffoonery and uselessness" by not tackling what he considered to be more important issues. The 4,800 students in his district, he said, already reflect daily through journal writing and class discussions.

He noted that both his schools offer a place where students can pray or observe a holiday. "If I've drawn ire here it's because we are really fed up with their antics which is to avoid dealing with central, pertinent issues that all schools need to deal with which is school funding reform," Codell said. "No wonder we're down at the bottom of all the states in school funding because this is what they spend their time on.

" Orland Elementary School District 135 Supt. Dennis Soustek said he needed a few "moments of silence" to cool down after reading about the law Friday morning. His district, he said, likely will implement the plan on Wednesday during the morning announcements, but he's not happy about it.

"It just seems frustrating after watching what happened -- or didn't happen -- in Springfield this year and this is what we got as a new law, a moment of silence to listen to the birds sing," Soustek said. Students at the Chicago's Namaste Charter School already get lessons in silence with a curriculum that includes mediation and breathing exercises at the end of the hour-long gym class each day. Principal Allison Slade said that teaching children to practice silence can be a powerful learning tool, but she questioned whether the new law is legal with wording that suggests prayer as an option during the silence.

"We use it as a tool for getting kids ready to learn, so that's what we would continue to use it for," Slade said. Some favored the approach. Jennifer Meekma, a 7th-grade science teacher at Orland Junior High, who previously taught at an Indiana school that practiced a daily moment of silence, called it a good idea that will benefit students throughout the day.

"Teachers made sure the kids were quiet," she said, "I just think that they had more of a respect for other people. They were able to take that time to reflect, and it just showed in their attitudes and enthusiasm about certain things." Already at least one lawsuit looms.

Atheist and activist Rob Sherman said once the law is implemented at Buffalo Grove High School where his 14-year-old daughter Dawn is a freshman, he'll sue Township High School District 214 and immediately seek an injunction. The law calls for the moment of silence "at the opening of each school day" which in his daughter's case means biology class.