Lawmakers renew push for parental consent, limits on corporal punishment in schools
After spending some years in detention, legislation imposing new limits on corporal punishment in Florida’s public and charter schools is advancing.
The House Education Quality Subcommittee voted unanimously for a bill (HB 439) to allow corporal punishment — typically spanking with a wooden paddle — only after a student’s parents consent to it.
The measure would prohibit the punishment for students with disabilities, individual education plans, those who attend certain alternative schools and students experiencing homelessness. It would also allow only school principals to conduct the punishment, require at least one adult witness and mandate yearly reporting on the prevalence of corporal di...
