Guest Column: No Corporal Punishment for Children With Disabilities
December 13, 2017
By: Richard Fossey and Franklin Foil
Source: The Advocate
On June 16, Gov. John Bel Edwards signed House Bill 79, which bans Louisiana school districts from paddling students with disabilities. More than 100,000 students in Louisiana’s public schools have been identified as disabled under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or Section 504, and all these students are now shielded from corporal punishment while at school.
A Republican, Franklin J. Foil, was lead sponsor of the bill; Edwards, a Democrat, gave the bill his strong backing. so the bill became law with broad bipartisan support. HB 79 had more than 30 co-sponsors, including both Republicans and Democrats. The bill passed through the Senate and the House of Representatives without a single dissenting vote.
Corporal punishment is on the decline in American schools. In 1977, only two states barred school districts from paddling students. Today, 28 states prohibit the practice…