SENATE BILL REPORT

SB 6225

BYSenators Bailey, Rinehart, Nelson, Bender, Murray, Talmadge and Niemi

Prohibiting corporal punishment in public schools.

Senate Committee on Education

Senate Hearing Date(s):January 16, 1990; January 25, 1990

Majority Report:  Do pass.

      Signed by Senators Bailey, Chairman; Bender, Fleming, Gaspard, Murray, Rinehart.

Minority Report:  Do not pass.

      Signed by Senators Lee, Vice Chairman; Benitz,  Craswell, Metcalf.

Senate Staff:Leslie Goldstein (786-7424)

                  January 26, 1990

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, JANUARY 25, 1990

BACKGROUND:

Corporal punishment in the schools has been a frequently debated issue in recent years.  According to a 1989 study by the National PTA, corporal punishment in the schools has been expressly prohibited in the District of Columbia and nineteen states including Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.  The other thirty-one states do not have such legislation.

SUMMARY:

The use of corporal punishment as a means of disciplining students within the public schools is prohibited.  Corporal punishment includes hitting, spanking, slapping, or striking a student or other methods of inflicting physical pain.  Physical restraint of a student, when reasonable and necessary to protect any person from physical injury or to prevent the commission of a crime is not prohibited.

Appropriation:    none

Revenue:    none

Fiscal Note:      none requested

Senate Committee - Testified: PRO:  Don Johnson and Ruth Harms, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction; Donna Shy, Washington State PTA; Carol Mason, Washington Association of Child Abuse Councils; Judy Hartmann, Washington Education Association; Margaret Casey, Alliance for Children, Youth and Families; Ruth Kagi, League of Women Voters; JoAnn Young, Tenino Schools; Kris Van Gorkom, Washington Association of School Administrators; Walter Bell, Washington State Principals Association; Marilee Wolf, Stop Abuse