I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 160 

To end the use of corporal punishment in schools, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2017 

Mr. HASTINGS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To end the use of corporal punishment in schools, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending Corporal Pun5 ishment in Schools Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Behavioral interventions for children must 

9 promote the right of all children to be treated with 

10 dignity. All children have the right to be free from 

11 any corporal punishment. 


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1 (2) Safe, effective, evidence-based strategies are 

2 available to support children who display challenging 

3 behaviors in school settings. 

4 (3) School personnel have the right to work in 

5 a safe environment and should be provided training 

6 and support to prevent injury and trauma to them7 selves and others. 

8 (4) According to the Department of Education’s 

9 Technical Assistance Center on School-Wide Positive 

10 Behavior Interventions and Support, outcomes asso11 ciated with school-wide positive behavior support are: 

12 decreased office discipline referrals, increased in13 structional time, decreased administrator time spent 

14 on discipline issues, efficient and effective use of 

15 scarce resources, and increased perception of school 

16 safety and sustainability through a team approach. 

17 (5) Every 30 seconds during the school year, a 

18 public school student is corporally punished. 

19 (6) Nineteen States continue to permit corporal 

20 punishment in public schools. 

21 (7) According to Department of Education sta22 tistics, each year in the United States, hundreds of 

23 thousands of school children are subjected to cor24 poral punishment in public schools. School corporal 

25 punishment is usually executed in the form of ‘‘padVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 Jan 10, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H160.IH H160

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1 dling’’, or striking students with a wooden paddle on 

2 their buttocks or legs, which can result in abrasions, 

3 bruising, severe muscle injury, hematomas, whiplash 

4 damage, life-threatening hemorrhages, and other 

5 medical complications that may require hospitaliza6 tion. 

7 (8) Gross racial disparity exists in the execution 

8 of corporal punishment of public school children, and 

9 African-American schoolchildren are disproportion10 ately corporally punished. The most recent available 

11 statistics show that African-American students make 

12 up 18 percent of the national student population, 

13 but comprise 40 percent of all students subjected to 

14 physical punishment at school. Black children are 

15 nearly two-and-a-half times more likely to be cor16 porally punished than White children, and nearly 

17 eight times more likely to be corporally punished 

18 than Hispanic children. 

19 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

20 The purposes of this Act are to— 

21 (1) eliminate the use of corporal punishment in 

22 schools; 

23 (2) ensure the safety of all students and school 

24 personnel in schools and promote a positive school 

25 culture and climate; and 


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1 (3) assist States, local educational agencies, 

2 and schools in identifying and implementing effective 

3 evidence-based models to prevent and reduce— 

4 (A) corporal punishment in schools; and 

5 (B) aversive behavior interventions that 

6 compromise health. 

7 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 

8 Subpart 4 of part C of the General Education Provi9 sions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232f et seq.) is amended by adding 

10 at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 448. PROHIBITION AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISH12 MENT. 

13 ‘‘(a) GENERAL PROHIBITION.—No funds shall be 

14 made available under any applicable program to any edu15 cational agency or institution, including a local edu16 cational agency or State educational agency, that has a 

17 policy or practice which allows school personnel to inflict 

18 corporal punishment upon a student— 

19 ‘‘(1) as a form of punishment; or 

20 ‘‘(2) for the purpose of modifying undesirable 

21 behavior. 

22 ‘‘(b) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an applicable 

24 program under which a local educational agency may 

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1 cy that is prohibited under subsection (a) from re2 ceiving funds under any applicable program, a local 

3 educational agency that is not prohibited under sub4 section (a) from receiving such funds may apply di5 rectly to the Secretary to receive funds under the 

6 program. 

7 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.—Each local educational 

8 agency applying directly to the Secretary under 

9 paragraph (1) shall certify in such application that 

10 the agency is not prohibited under subsection (a) 

11 from receiving funds under any applicable program. 

12 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec13 tion shall be construed to preclude school personnel from 

14 using, within the scope of employment, reasonable re15 straint to the lightest possible degree upon a student, if— 

16 ‘‘(1) the student’s behavior poses an imminent 

17 danger of physical injury to the student, school per18 sonnel, or others; 

19 ‘‘(2) less restrictive interventions would be inef20 fective in stopping such imminent danger of physical 

21 injury; and 

22 ‘‘(3) the reasonable restraint ends immediately 

23 upon the cessation of the conditions described in 

24 paragraphs (1) and (2). 

25 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘corporal punishment’ has the 

2 meaning given such term in section 12 of the End3 ing Corporal Punishment in Schools Act of 2017; 

4 ‘‘(2) the term ‘educational agency or institution’ 

5 means any public or private agency or institution 

6 which is the recipient, or serves students who are re7 cipients of, funds under any applicable program; 

8 ‘‘(3) the terms ‘local educational agency’ and 

9 ‘State educational agency’ have the meanings given 

10 such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

11 Secondary Education Act of 1965; 

12 ‘‘(4) the term ‘school personnel’ has the mean13 ing given such term in section 12 of the Ending Cor14 poral Punishment in Schools Act of 2017; and 

15 ‘‘(5) the term ‘student’ includes any person who 

16 is in attendance at an educational agency or institu17 tion.’’. 

18 SEC. 5. STATE PLAN AND ENFORCEMENT. 

19 (a) STATE PLAN.—Not later than 18 months after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act and every third year 

21 thereafter, each State educational agency shall submit to 

22 the Secretary a State plan that provides— 

23 (1) assurances to the Secretary that the State 

24 has in effect policies and procedures that eliminate 

25 the use of corporal punishment in schools; 


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1 (2) a description of the State’s policies and pro2 cedures; and 

3 (3) a description of the State plans to ensure 

4 school personnel and parents, including private 

5 school personnel and parents, are aware of the 

6 State’s policies and procedures. 

7 (b) ENFORCEMENT.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

9 (A) USE OF REMEDIES.—If a State edu10 cational agency fails to comply with subsection 

11 (a), the Secretary shall— 

12 (i) withhold, in whole or in part, fur13 ther payments under an applicable pro14 gram (as such term is defined in section 

15 400(c) of the General Education Provi16 sions Act (20 U.S.C. 1221)) in accordance 

17 with section 455 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

18 1234d); 

19 (ii) enter into a compliance agreement 

20 in accordance with section 457 of the Gen21 eral Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 

22 1234f); or 

23 (iii) issue a complaint to compel com24 pliance of the State educational agency 

25 through a cease and desist order, in the 


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1 same manner the Secretary is authorized 

2 to take such action under section 456 of 

3 the General Education Provisions Act (20 

4 U.S.C. 1234e). 

5 (B) CESSATION OF WITHHOLDING OF

6 FUNDS.—Whenever the Secretary determines 

7 (whether by certification or other appropriate 

8 evidence) that a State educational agency that 

9 is subject to the withholding of payments under 

10 subparagraph (A)(i) has cured the failure pro11 viding the basis for the withholding of pay12 ments, the Secretary shall cease the withholding 

13 of payments with respect to the State edu14 cational agency under such subparagraph. 

15 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

16 subsection shall be construed to limit the Secretary’s 

17 authority under the General Education Provisions 

18 Act (20 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.). 

19 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec20 tion shall be construed to preclude school personnel from 

21 using, within the scope of employment, reasonable re22 straint to the lightest possible degree upon a student, if— 

23 (1) the student’s behavior poses an imminent 

24 danger of physical injury to the student, school per25 sonnel, or others; 


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1 (2) less restrictive interventions would be inef2 fective in stopping such imminent danger of physical 

3 injury; and 

4 (3) the reasonable restraint ends immediately 

5 upon the cessation of the conditions described in 

6 paragraphs (1) and (2). 

7 SEC. 6. GRANT AUTHORITY. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—From the amount appropriated 

9 under section 11, the Secretary may award grants to State 

10 educational agencies to assist the agencies in improving 

11 school climate and culture by implementing school-wide 

12 positive behavior support approaches. 

13 (b) DURATION OF GRANT.—A grant under this sec14 tion shall be awarded to a State educational agency for 

15 a 3-year period. 

16 (c) APPLICATION.—Each State educational agency 

17 desiring a grant under this section shall submit an appli18 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

19 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may 

20 require, including information on how the State edu21 cational agency— 

22 (1) will develop State training programs on 

23 school-wide positive behavior support approaches, 

24 such as training programs developed with the assist25 ance of the Secretary (acting through the Office of 


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1 Special Education Programs Technical Assistance 

2 Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and 

3 Supports of the Department of Education); and 

4 (2) will target resources to schools and local 

5 educational agencies in need of assistance related to 

6 improving school culture and climate through posi7 tive behavior supports. 

8 (d) AUTHORITY TO MAKE SUBGRANTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency 

10 receiving a grant under this section may use such 

11 grant funds to award subgrants, on a competitive 

12 basis, to local educational agencies. 

13 (2) APPLICATION.—A local educational agency 

14 desiring to receive a subgrant under this section 

15 shall submit an application to the applicable State 

16 educational agency at such time, in such manner, 

17 and containing such information as the State edu18 cational agency may require. 

19 (e) PRIVATE SCHOOL PARTICIPATION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency 

21 receiving subgrant funds under this section shall, 

22 after timely and meaningful consultation with appro23 priate private school officials, ensure that private 

24 school personnel can participate, on an equitable 


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1 basis, in activities supported by funds under this 

2 section. 

3 (2) PUBLIC CONTROL OF FUNDS.—The control 

4 of funds provided under this section, and title to ma5 terials, equipment, and property purchased with 

6 such funds, shall be in a public agency, and a public 

7 agency shall administer such funds, materials, equip8 ment, and property. 

9 (f) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A State educational 

10 agency receiving a grant, or a local educational agency re11 ceiving a subgrant, under this section shall use such grant 

12 or subgrant funds to carry out the following: 

13 (1) Developing and implementing high-quality 

14 professional development and training programs, 

15 such as training programs developed with the assist16 ance of the Secretary (acting through the Office of 

17 Special Education Programs Technical Assistance 

18 Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and 

19 Supports of the Department of Education), to imple20 ment evidence-based systematic approaches to 

21 school-wide positive behavior supports, including im22 proving coaching, facilitation, and training capacity 

23 for principals and other administrators, teachers, 

24 specialized instructional support personnel, and 

25 other staff. 


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1 (2) Providing technical assistance to develop 

2 and implement evidence-based systematic approaches 

3 to school-wide positive behavior supports, including 

4 technical assistance for data-driven decisionmaking 

5 related to behavioral supports and interventions in 

6 the classroom and throughout common areas. 

7 (3) Researching, evaluating, and disseminating 

8 high-quality evidence-based programs and activities 

9 that implement school-wide positive behavior sup10 ports with fidelity. 

11 (4) Supporting other local positive behavior 

12 support implementation activities consistent with 

13 this subsection, including outreach to families and 

14 community agencies and providers, such as mental 

15 health authorities. 

16 (g) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—Each State edu17 cational agency receiving a grant under this section shall, 

18 at the end of the 3-year grant period for such grant, pre19 pare and submit to the Secretary, a report that— 

20 (1) evaluates the State’s progress toward devel21 oping and implementing evidence-based systematic 

22 approaches to school-wide positive behavior supports; 

23 and 

24 (2) includes such information as the Secretary 

25 may require. 


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1 (h) DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.—From the 

2 amount appropriated under section 11, the Secretary may 

3 allocate funds to the Secretary of the Interior for activities 

4 under this section with respect to schools operated or 

5 funded by the Department of the Interior, under such 

6 terms as the Secretary of Education may prescribe. 

7 SEC. 7. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT. 

8 (a) NATIONAL ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary shall 

9 carry out a national assessment to— 

10 (1) determine compliance with the requirements 

11 of this Act; and 

12 (2) identify best practices with respect to pro13 fessional development and training programs carried 

14 out under section 6, which shall include identifying 

15 evidence-based school personnel training models with 

16 demonstrated success (including models that empha17 size positive behavior supports and de-escalation 

18 techniques over physical intervention). 

19 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to the 

20 Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House 

21 of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Edu22 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate— 

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1 section (a) not later than 3 years after the date of 

2 enactment of this Act; and 

3 (2) a final report of the findings of the assess4 ment not later than 5 years after the date of the en5 actment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 8. PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS. 

7 Protection and Advocacy Systems shall have the au8 thority provided under section 143 of the Developmental 

9 Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 

10 U.S.C. 15043) to investigate, monitor, and enforce protec11 tions provided for students under this Act and the amend12 ments made by this Act. 

13 SEC. 9. LIMITATION OF AUTHORITY. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall be con15 strued to restrict or limit, or allow the Secretary to restrict 

16 or limit, any other rights or remedies otherwise available 

17 to students or parents under Federal, State, or local law 

18 or regulation. 

19 (b) APPLICABILITY.— 

20 (1) PRIVATE SCHOOLS.—Nothing in this Act 

21 shall be construed to affect any private school that 

22 does not receive, or does not serve students who re23 ceive, support in any form from any program sup24 ported, in whole or in part, with funds appropriated 

25 to the Department of Education. 


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1 (2) HOME SCHOOLS.—Nothing in this Act shall 

2 be construed to— 

3 (A) affect a home school, whether or not a 

4 home school is treated as a private school or 

5 home school under State law; or 

6 (B) consider parents who are schooling a 

7 child at home as school personnel. 

8 SEC. 10. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION ON DATA COLLECTION. 

9 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect the 

10 collection of information or data with respect to corporal 

11 punishment authorized under the statutes and regulations 

12 implementing title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

13 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education Amend14 ments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 504 of 

15 the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794 et seq.), 

16 or the Department of Education Organization Act (20 

17 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.). 

18 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

20 as may be necessary to carry out this Act for fiscal year 

21 2017 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years. 

22 SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 

24 (1) CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.—The term ‘‘cor25 poral punishment’’ means paddling, spanking, or 


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1 other forms of physical punishment, however light, 

2 imposed upon a student. 

3 (2) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY.—The 

4 term ‘‘educational service agency’’ has the meaning 

5 given such term in section 8101(18) of the Elemen6 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

7 U.S.C. 7801(18)). 

8 (3) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘elemen9 tary school’’ has the meaning given the term in sec10 tion 8101(19) of the Elementary and Secondary 

11 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(19)). 

12 (4) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

13 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

14 the term in section 8101(30) of the Elementary and 

15 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

16 7801(30)). 

17 (5) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ has the 

18 meaning given the term in section 8101(38) of the 

19 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

20 (20 U.S.C. 7801(38)). 

21 (6) POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORTS.—The term 

22 ‘‘positive behavior supports’’ means a systematic ap23 proach to embed evidence-based practices and data24 driven decision making to improve school climate 

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1 vidualized strategies to reinforce desired behaviors 

2 and diminish reoccurrence of problem behaviors, in 

3 order to achieve improved academic and social out4 comes and increase learning for all students, includ5 ing those with the most complex and intensive be6 havioral needs. 

7 (7) PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEM.—The 

8 term ‘‘protection and advocacy system’’ means a 

9 protection and advocacy system established under 

10 section 143 of the Developmental Disabilities Assist11 ance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 

12 15043). 

13 (8) SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘school’’ means an en14 tity— 

15 (A) that— 

16 (i) is a public or private— 

17 (I) day or residential elementary 

18 school or secondary school; or 

19 (II) early childhood, elementary 

20 school, or secondary school program 

21 that is under the jurisdiction of a 

22 school, local educational agency, edu23 cational service agency, or other edu24 cational institution or program; and 


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1 (ii) receives, or serves students who 

2 receive, support in any form from any pro3 gram supported, in whole or in part, with 

4 funds appropriated to the Department of 

5 Education; or 

6 (B) that is a school funded or operated by 

7 the Department of the Interior. 

8 (9) SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT

9 PERSONNEL.—The term ‘‘specialized instructional 

10 support personnel’’ means school counselors, school 

11 social workers, school nurses, school psychologists, 

12 and other qualified professional personnel involved in 

13 providing assessment, diagnosis, counseling, edu14 cational, health, therapeutic, and other necessary 

15 corrective or supportive services. 

16 (10) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec17 ondary school’’ has the meaning given the term in 

18 section 8101(45) of the Elementary and Secondary 

19 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(45)). 

20 (11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

21 means the Secretary of Education. 

22 (12) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean23 ing given the term in section 8101 of the Elemen24 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

25 U.S.C. 7801). 


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1 (13) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

2 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

3 the term in section 8101(48) of the Elementary and 

4 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

5 7801(48)). 

6 (14) STUDENT.—The term ‘‘student’’ means a 

7 student enrolled in a school defined in paragraph 

8 (8). 

9 SEC. 13. PRESUMPTION OF CONGRESS RELATING TO COM10 PETITIVE PROCEDURES. 

11 (a) PRESUMPTION.—It is the presumption of Con12 gress that grants awarded under this Act will be awarded 

13 using competitive procedures based on merit. 

14 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—If grants are awarded 

15 under this Act using procedures other than competitive 

16 procedures, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a re17 port explaining why competitive procedures were not used. 

18 SEC. 14. PROHIBITION ON EARMARKS. 

19 None of the funds appropriated to carry out this Act 

20 may be used for a congressional earmark as defined in 

21 clause 9(e) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Rep22 resentatives of the 114th Congress. 

Æ 


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