I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5628 
To end the use of corporal punishment in schools, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 29, 2010 
Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York (for herself, Mr. HARE, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, 
Mr. HOLT, Mr. POLIS of Colorado, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 
SHEA-PORTER, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. 
HINOJOSA, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. 
CAPUANO, Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut, and Mr. SESTAK) 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the Ending Corporal Pun-
ishment in Schools Act. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Behavioral interventions for children must 
promote the right of all children to be treated with 
dignity. All children have the right to be free from 
any corporal punishment. 
(2) Safe, effective, evidence-based strategies are 
available to support children who display challenging 
behaviors in school settings. 
(3) School personnel have the right to work in 
a safe environment and should be provided training 
and support to prevent injury and trauma to them-
selves and others. 
(4) According to the Department of Education’s 
Technical Assistance Center on School-Wide Positive 
Behavior Interventions and Support, outcomes asso-
ciated with school-wide positive behavior support are 
decreased office discipline referrals, increased in-
structional time, decreased administrator time spent 
on discipline issues, efficient and effective use of 
scarce resources, and increased perception of school 
safety and sustainability through a team approach. 
(5) Twenty States continue to permit corporal 
punishment in public schools. 
(6) According to Department of Education sta-
tistics, each year in the United States, hundreds of 
thousands of school children are subjected to cor-
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poral punishment in public schools. School corporal 
punishment is usually executed in the form of ‘‘pad-
dling’’, or striking students with a wooden paddle on 
their buttocks or legs, which can result in abrasions, 
bruising, severe muscle injury, hematomas, whiplash 
damage, life-threatening hemorrhages, and other 
medical complications that may require hospitaliza-
tion. 
(7) Gross racial disparity exists in the execution 
of corporal punishment of public schoolchildren, and 
Black schoolchildren are disproportionately cor-
porally punished. The most recent available statistics 
show that African-American students make up 17.1 
percent of the national student population, but 35.6 
percent of all students subjected to physical punish-
ment at school. 
(8) Public schoolchildren with disabilities are 
subjected to corporal punishment at disproportion-
ately high rates, approximately twice the rate of the 
general student population in some States. 
(9) Corporal punishment is used in many in-
stances for minor disciplinary infractions, such as 
being tardy or violating the dress code. 
(10) Corporal punishment has resulted in phys-
ical injury and psychological trauma to children in 
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public and private schools. Social skills development 
after the use of corporal punishment may be severely 
altered, leading to aggressive behaviors. National re-
search shows students have been subjected to cor-
poral punishment in schools as a means of discipline, 
to force compliance, or as a substitute for appro-
priate educational support. 
(11) Children are protected from corporal pun-
ishment in other settings, such as hospitals, health 
facilities, Head Start programs, and nonmedical 
community-based facilities. Similar protections are 
needed in schools. 
(12) Prisoners in Federal prison are protected 
from corporal punishment. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are to— 
(1) eliminate the use of corporal punishment in 
schools; 
(2) ensure the safety of all students and school 
personnel in schools and promote a positive school 
culture and climate; 
(3) assist States, local educational agencies, 
and schools in identifying and implementing effective 
evidence-based models to prevent and reduce— 
(A) corporal punishment in schools; 
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(B) aversive behavior interventions that 
compromise health and safety; and 
(C) physical, emotional, or psychological 
abuse. 
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. 
Subpart 4 of part C of the General Education Provi-
sions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232f et seq.) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 448. PROHIBITION AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISH-
MENT. 
‘‘(a) GENERAL PROHIBITION.—No funds shall be 
made available under any applicable program to any edu-
cational agency or institution, including a local edu-
cational agency or State educational agency, that has a 
policy or practice which allows school personnel to inflict 
corporal punishment upon a student— 
‘‘(1) as a form of punishment; or 
‘‘(2) for the purpose of modifying undesirable 
behavior. 
‘‘(b) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an applicable 
program under which a local educational agency may 
only receive funds through a State educational agen-
cy that is prohibited under subsection (a) from re-
ceiving funds under any applicable program, a local 
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