I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1234 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2021 

Mr. HASTINGS (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mrs. HAYES, 

Ms. PINGREE, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

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 2021’’. 

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 


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

2 any corporal punishment. 

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

4 available to support children who display challenging 

5 behaviors in school settings. 

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

7 a safe environment and should be provided training 

8 and support to prevent injury and trauma to them9 selves and others. 

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

11 Technical Assistance Center on School-Wide Positive 

12 Behavior Interventions and Support, outcomes asso13 ciated with school-wide positive behavior support are: 

14 decreased office discipline referrals, increased in15 structional time, decreased administrator time spent 

16 on discipline issues, efficient and effective use of 

17 scarce resources, and increased perception of school 

18 safety and sustainability through a team approach. 

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

20 public school student is corporally punished. 

21 (6) Nineteen States continue to permit corporal 

22 punishment in public schools. 

23 (7) According to Department of Education sta24 tistics, each year in the United States, hundreds of 

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1 poral punishment in public schools. School corporal 

2 punishment is usually executed in the form of ‘‘pad3 dling’’, or striking students with a wooden paddle on 

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

5 bruising, severe muscle injury, hematomas, whiplash 

6 damage, life-threatening hemorrhages, and other 

7 medical complications that may require hospitaliza8 tion. 

9 (8) Gross racial disparity exists in the execution 

10 of corporal punishment of public school children, and 

11 African-American schoolchildren are disproportion12 ately corporally punished. The most recent available 

13 statistics show that African-American students make 

14 up 18 percent of the national student population, 

15 but comprise 40 percent of all students subjected to 

16 physical punishment at school. Black children are 

17 nearly two-and-a-half times more likely to be cor18 porally punished than White children, and nearly 

19 eight times more likely to be corporally punished 

20 than Hispanic children. 

21 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

22 The purposes of this Act are to— 

23 (1) eliminate the use of corporal punishment in 

24 schools; 


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

2 personnel in schools and promote a positive school 

3 culture and climate; and 

4 (3) assist States, local educational agencies, 

5 and schools in identifying and implementing effective 

6 evidence-based models to prevent and reduce— 

7 (A) corporal punishment in schools; and 

8 (B) aversive behavior interventions that 

9 compromise health. 

10 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 

11 Subpart 4 of part C of the General Education Provi12 sions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232f et seq.) is amended by adding 

13 at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 448. PROHIBITION AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISH15 MENT. 

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

17 made available under any applicable program to any edu18 cational agency or institution, including a local edu19 cational agency or State educational agency, that has a 

20 policy or practice which allows school personnel to inflict 

21 corporal punishment upon a student— 

22 ‘‘(1) as a form of punishment; or 

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

24 behavior. 

25 ‘‘(b) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 


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

2 program under which a local educational agency may 

3 only receive funds through a State educational agen4 cy that is prohibited under subsection (a) from re5 ceiving funds under any applicable program, a local 

6 educational agency that is not prohibited under sub7 section (a) from receiving such funds may apply di8 rectly to the Secretary to receive funds under the 

9 program. 

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

11 agency applying directly to the Secretary under 

12 paragraph (1) shall certify in such application that 

13 the agency is not prohibited under subsection (a) 

14 from receiving funds under any applicable program. 

15 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec16 tion shall be construed to preclude school personnel from 

17 using, within the scope of employment, reasonable re18 straint to the lightest possible degree upon a student, if— 

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

20 danger of physical injury to the student, school per21 sonnel, or others; 

22 ‘‘(2) less restrictive interventions would be inef23 fective in stopping such imminent danger of physical 

24 injury; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) the reasonable restraint ends immediately 

2 upon the cessation of the conditions described in 

3 paragraphs (1) and (2). 

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

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

6 meaning given such term in section 12 of the End7 ing Corporal Punishment in Schools Act of 2021; 

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

9 means any public or private agency or institution 

10 which is the recipient, or serves students who are re11 cipients of, funds under any applicable program; 

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

13 ‘State educational agency’ have the meanings given 

14 such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

15 Secondary Education Act of 1965; 

16 ‘‘(4) the term ‘school personnel’ has the mean17 ing given such term in section 12 of the Ending Cor18 poral Punishment in Schools Act of 2021; and 

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

20 is in attendance at an educational agency or institu21 tion.’’. 

22 SEC. 5. STATE PLAN AND ENFORCEMENT. 

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

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


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1 thereafter, each State educational agency shall submit to 

2 the Secretary a State plan that provides— 

3 (1) assurances to the Secretary that the State 

4 has in effect policies and procedures that eliminate 

5 the use of corporal punishment in schools; 

6 (2) a description of the State’s policies and pro7 cedures; and 

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

9 school personnel and parents, including private 

10 school personnel and parents, are aware of the 

11 State’s policies and procedures. 

12 (b) ENFORCEMENT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

14 (A) USE OF REMEDIES.—If a State edu15 cational agency fails to comply with subsection 

16 (a), the Secretary shall— 

17 (i) withhold, in whole or in part, fur18 ther payments under an applicable pro19 gram (as such term is defined in section 

20 400(c) of the General Education Provi21 sions Act (20 U.S.C. 1221)) in accordance 

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

23 1234d); 

24 (ii) enter into a compliance agreement 

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1 eral Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 

2 1234f); or 

3 (iii) issue a complaint to compel com4 pliance of the State educational agency 

5 through a cease and desist order, in the 

6 same manner the Secretary is authorized 

7 to take such action under section 456 of 

8 the General Education Provisions Act (20 

9 U.S.C. 1234e). 

10 (B) CESSATION OF WITHHOLDING OF

11 FUNDS.—Whenever the Secretary determines 

12 (whether by certification or other appropriate 

13 evidence) that a State educational agency that 

14 is subject to the withholding of payments under 

15 subparagraph (A)(i) has cured the failure pro16 viding the basis for the withholding of pay17 ments, the Secretary shall cease the withholding 

18 of payments with respect to the State edu19 cational agency under such subparagraph. 

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

21 subsection shall be construed to limit the Secretary’s 

22 authority under the General Education Provisions 

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

24 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec25 tion shall be construed to preclude school personnel from 


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1 using, within the scope of employment, reasonable re2 straint to the lightest possible degree upon a student, if— 

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

4 danger of physical injury to the student, school per5 sonnel, or others; 

6 (2) less restrictive interventions would be inef7 fective in stopping such imminent danger of physical 

8 injury; and 

9 (3) the reasonable restraint ends immediately 

10 upon the cessation of the conditions described in 

11 paragraphs (1) and (2). 

12 SEC. 6. GRANT AUTHORITY. 

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

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

15 educational agencies to assist the agencies in improving 

16 school climate and culture by implementing school-wide 

17 positive behavior support approaches. 

18 (b) DURATION OF GRANT.—A grant under this sec19 tion shall be awarded to a State educational agency for 

20 a 3-year period. 

21 (c) APPLICATION.—Each State educational agency 

22 desiring a grant under this section shall submit an appli23 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

24 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may 


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1 require, including information on how the State edu2 cational agency— 

3 (1) will develop State training programs on 

4 school-wide positive behavior support approaches, 

5 such as training programs developed with the assist6 ance of the Secretary (acting through the Office of 

7 Special Education Programs Technical Assistance 

8 Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and 

9 Supports of the Department of Education); and 

10 (2) will target resources to schools and local 

11 educational agencies in need of assistance related to 

12 improving school culture and climate through posi13 tive behavior supports. 

14 (d) AUTHORITY TO MAKE SUBGRANTS.— 

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

16 receiving a grant under this section may use such 

17 grant funds to award subgrants, on a competitive 

18 basis, to local educational agencies. 

19 (2) APPLICATION.—A local educational agency 

20 desiring to receive a subgrant under this section 

21 shall submit an application to the applicable State 

22 educational agency at such time, in such manner, 

23 and containing such information as the State edu24 cational agency may require. 

25 (e) PRIVATE SCHOOL PARTICIPATION.— 


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

2 receiving subgrant funds under this section shall, 

3 after timely and meaningful consultation with appro4 priate private school officials, ensure that private 

5 school personnel can participate, on an equitable 

6 basis, in activities supported by funds under this 

7 section. 

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

9 of funds provided under this section, and title to ma10 terials, equipment, and property purchased with 

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

12 agency shall administer such funds, materials, equip13 ment, and property. 

14 (f) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A State educational 

15 agency receiving a grant, or a local educational agency re16 ceiving a subgrant, under this section shall use such grant 

17 or subgrant funds to carry out the following: 

18 (1) Developing and implementing high-quality 

19 professional development and training programs, 

20 such as training programs developed with the assist21 ance of the Secretary (acting through the Office of 

22 Special Education Programs Technical Assistance 

23 Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and 

24 Supports of the Department of Education), to imple25 ment evidence-based systematic approaches to 


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1 school-wide positive behavior supports, including im2 proving coaching, facilitation, and training capacity 

3 for principals and other administrators, teachers, 

4 specialized instructional support personnel, and 

5 other staff. 

6 (2) Providing technical assistance to develop 

7 and implement evidence-based systematic approaches 

8 to school-wide positive behavior supports, including 

9 technical assistance for data-driven decisionmaking 

10 related to behavioral supports and interventions in 

11 the classroom and throughout common areas. 

12 (3) Researching, evaluating, and disseminating 

13 high-quality evidence-based programs and activities 

14 that implement school-wide positive behavior sup15 ports with fidelity. 

16 (4) Supporting other local positive behavior 

17 support implementation activities consistent with 

18 this subsection, including outreach to families and 

19 community agencies and providers, such as mental 

20 health authorities. 

21 (g) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—Each State edu22 cational agency receiving a grant under this section shall, 

23 at the end of the 3-year grant period for such grant, pre24 pare and submit to the Secretary, a report that— 


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1 (1) evaluates the State’s progress toward devel2 oping and implementing evidence-based systematic 

3 approaches to school-wide positive behavior supports; 

4 and 

5 (2) includes such information as the Secretary 

6 may require. 

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

8 amount appropriated under section 11, the Secretary may 

9 allocate funds to the Secretary of the Interior for activities 

10 under this section with respect to schools operated or 

11 funded by the Department of the Interior, under such 

12 terms as the Secretary of Education may prescribe. 

13 SEC. 7. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT. 

14 (a) NATIONAL ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary shall 

15 carry out a national assessment to— 

16 (1) determine compliance with the requirements 

17 of this Act; and 

18 (2) identify best practices with respect to pro19 fessional development and training programs carried 

20 out under section 6, which shall include identifying 

21 evidence-based school personnel training models with 

22 demonstrated success (including models that empha23 size positive behavior supports and de-escalation 

24 techniques over physical intervention). 


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

2 Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Rep3 resentatives and the Committee on Health, Education, 

4 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate— 

5 (1) an interim report that summarizes the pre6 liminary findings of the assessment described in sub7 section (a) not later than 3 years after the date of 

8 enactment of this Act; and 

9 (2) a final report of the findings of the assess10 ment not later than 5 years after the date of the en11 actment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 8. PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS. 

13 Protection and Advocacy Systems shall have the au14 thority provided under section 143 of the Developmental 

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

16 U.S.C. 15043) to investigate, monitor, and enforce protec17 tions provided for students under this Act and the amend18 ments made by this Act. 

19 SEC. 9. LIMITATION OF AUTHORITY. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall be con21 strued to restrict or limit, or allow the Secretary to restrict 

22 or limit, any other rights or remedies otherwise available 

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

24 or regulation. 

25 (b) APPLICABILITY.— 


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

2 shall be construed to affect any private school that 

3 does not receive, or does not serve students who re4 ceive, support in any form from any program sup5 ported, in whole or in part, with funds appropriated 

6 to the Department of Education. 

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

8 be construed to— 

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

10 home school is treated as a private school or 

11 home school under State law; or 

12 (B) consider parents who are schooling a 

13 child at home as school personnel. 

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

15 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect the 

16 collection of information or data with respect to corporal 

17 punishment authorized under the statutes and regulations 

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

19 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education Amend20 ments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 504 of 

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

22 or the Department of Education Organization Act (20 

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


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1 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

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

4 2021 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years. 

5 SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) CORPORAL PUNISHMENT.—The term ‘‘cor8 poral punishment’’ means paddling, spanking, or 

9 other forms of physical punishment, however light, 

10 imposed upon a student. 

11 (2) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY.—The 

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

13 given such term in section 8101(18) of the Elemen14 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

16 (3) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘elemen17 tary school’’ has the meaning given the term in sec18 tion 8101(19) of the Elementary and Secondary 

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

20 (4) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

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

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

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

24 7801(30)). 

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

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


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1 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

2 (20 U.S.C. 7801(38)). 

3 (6) POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORTS.—The term 

4 ‘‘positive behavior supports’’ means a systematic ap5 proach to embed evidence-based practices and data6 driven decision making to improve school climate 

7 and culture, including a range of systemic and indi8 vidualized strategies to reinforce desired behaviors 

9 and diminish reoccurrence of problem behaviors, in 

10 order to achieve improved academic and social out11 comes and increase learning for all students, includ12 ing those with the most complex and intensive be13 havioral needs. 

14 (7) PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEM.—The 

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

16 protection and advocacy system established under 

17 section 143 of the Developmental Disabilities Assist18 ance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 

19 15043). 

20 (8) SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘school’’ means an en21 tity— 

22 (A) that— 

23 (i) is a public or private— 

24 (I) day or residential elementary 

25 school or secondary school; or 


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1 (II) early childhood, elementary 

2 school, or secondary school program 

3 that is under the jurisdiction of a 

4 school, local educational agency, edu5 cational service agency, or other edu6 cational institution or program; and 

7 (ii) receives, or serves students who 

8 receive, support in any form from any pro9 gram supported, in whole or in part, with 

10 funds appropriated to the Department of 

11 Education; or 

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

13 the Department of the Interior. 

14 (9) SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT

15 PERSONNEL.—The term ‘‘specialized instructional 

16 support personnel’’ means school counselors, school 

17 social workers, school nurses, school psychologists, 

18 and other qualified professional personnel involved in 

19 providing assessment, diagnosis, counseling, edu20 cational, health, therapeutic, and other necessary 

21 corrective or supportive services. 

22 (10) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec23 ondary school’’ has the meaning given the term in 

24 section 8101(45) of the Elementary and Secondary 

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


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

2 means the Secretary of Education. 

3 (12) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean4 ing given the term in section 8101 of the Elemen5 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

6 U.S.C. 7801). 

7 (13) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

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

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

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

11 7801(48)). 

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

13 student enrolled in a school defined in paragraph 

14 (8). 

15 SEC. 13. PRESUMPTION OF CONGRESS RELATING TO COM16 PETITIVE PROCEDURES. 

17 (a) PRESUMPTION.—It is the presumption of Con18 gress that grants awarded under this Act will be awarded 

19 using competitive procedures based on merit. 

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

21 under this Act using procedures other than competitive 

22 procedures, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a re23 port explaining why competitive procedures were not used. 


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1 SEC. 14. PROHIBITION ON EARMARKS. 

2 None of the funds appropriated to carry out this Act 

3 may be used for a congressional earmark as defined in 

4 clause 9(e) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Rep5 resentatives of the 117th Congress. 

Æ 


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