Thanks for all the great advice. Lots of really good ideas, some are in the works.

Here in my school district, corporal punishment is still on the books, so parents must sign that they have read the code of conduct. Some parents are signing with exception, and stating that they do not agree to corporal punishment. It gets complicated, but basically, our superintendent tells us that he has instructed principals to not hit. State law tells us that parents and students must be notified, in writing, of the misconducts that can lead to corporal punishment. Our county has not complied with state law, and know we as parents are supposed to believe a verbal promise.

Here is the question that I have. One involved mom wishes to present this factual data at the elementary school PTO meeting, but the president turned her down, by laws cited. To me, PTO is the perfect place to have parents become informed of issues. I guess its too controversial.

My chief complaint about PTA/PTO and site based committees is this....how is the parent population represented if we can't debate issues, and take action on such issues as a group? It seems here in the south that we are expected to comply with administrators, without question.
Does anyone else feel stiffled in their area?

I know my sister in law teaches in NC and she has talked about being able to spank a child, it is considered normal in her school.

Originally posted by pegmomof4:
Yes, they are physically injuring them. End result? The local DA refused to press charges, the local board of ed did nothing, and the State board of ed claims no jurisdiction.
We need legislative change.
I will never agree that a teacher has the right to hit my child with a wooden board.

State Attorney Gen, Child Srvices, Assemblyperson, Lesiglators, Mayor, Gov, Congresspeople- have any of these been contacted?

I'd start at the bottom of the food chain and rework your way up the chain of command.
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• You can get response in writing (sound like you have lots of documneted materials)</font>
• No one can say- well you need to talk to so and so who's below this dept OR its not my dept, etc</font>

then get parent support (pickets, meetings, attending school board mtgs, etc) then hit the media. Document, document, document and have all your bases covered- Bureacracy and they Media love when all the ducks arent in line - then then can warp it, sensationalize it and dump it to the back page or end of the line

PS Is Bush talikng about violence or corporal punishment.. She's from TX the home of corporal punishment and the Death Penalty... not all equate corporal punishment as a last resort as violence

Best of luck hopefully something I posted was helpful

[ 09-15-2006, 06:09 PM: Message edited by: Shawn ]

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!

Get out there and yell and scream until something is done! There is NO WAY someone is going to hit my child over a math problem. Contact the ACLU, the media, write letters to the paper, and every child advocate you can find. get a petition going. Get a large group of parents and go to the board meetings.
A bunch of teachers in OH (not sure, but think it was OH) just picketted over pay. if they can picket over pay, then you can surely picket over this. get parents together and call the media and then march!

Get any researched-based journals and get articles on corporal punishment, and punishment in the schools. This will help back your cause and provide the reaasons you need.

adsolutely abhorrent...not my child...d

have u considered the media?

Bill O Reilly of the Oreilly Factor seems to be a staunch childrens advocate from the few shows i have seen.