I just had a thought-

Does anyone have any "one small step for man" stories of principals saying, "This may be legal, but I care about these children & their welfare, and this will not happen in MY school!"?
Or of BOE's saying "Not in our town!"? I could really go for some encouraging stories about this issue.

Lamme-

I do not live in a cp state, thankfully. Also, that principal will someday have to answer, one way or another, for this behavior & flipancy. I am a big believer in karma.

Has anyone talked w/ child protective services in their state? It seems as though they should be concerned about this.

Good for you for working to protect our children from this! When you straighten out Arkansas, can you come fix GA? I have been so appalled by all of this and can not believe that we have this in 2006!!!

Thank you both for all of the information you have provided! Continue to fight the good fight because you are fighting for all of the kids in the US, not just yours!!

beignets&coffee- I love your name- I SO miss NOLA, hopefully will get my beignet fix next summer.

I have contacted the ADE, and have been told that unless they actually do assault my kids then there is nothing I can do. But I do intend to let as many people know about this as possible, I actually have a letter to the editor that came out in the local paper tonight, and I hope to get a group of like-minded parents to go to the school district's board and have this addressed, and then to tackle the ADE.....

Here are the responses to individual posts that I promised....

dlf, GaMom, lemonrasp, Lucella- If you live in a corporal punishment state, the choice may not be yours, most states leave it up to the school districts to decide if they need your permission and if they decide they don't there is NOTHING you can do.

Shawn, volunteermomo3- funny you should mention going to the authorities, in the state of Arkansas, and others the teachers are actually protected by LAW from any prosecution or civil claims from injuries given during corporal punishment, and it also specifically states that bruising will not be considered abuse, so any of the pics on the website that Peg included would NOT be abuse in my state. A student here was bruised like this and the mother reported it to DHS and DHs found it to be a true report of child abuse and the assistant principle was placed on the states registry, but thanks to this law, successfully sued and had her name removed, but it wouldn't have mattered because her contract was renewed while her name was still on the list!

Shawn- you state you advocate for parents rights, that is great, that is exactly what I am fighting for here in Arkansas, my rights to decide what happens to my children while they are at school. You also mention the governments responsibility in education, it actually ties into your constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness, I was told that if I don't agree with the rules of my school system I should look for "alternatives to our school" which interfers with my constitutionally protected right to parent my children as I see fit, the Supreme Court has said- It is cardinal with us that the custody, care and nurture of the child reside first in the parents, whose primary function and freedom include preparation for obligations the state can neither supply nor hinder.” and- "In subsequent cases also, we have recognized the fundamental right of parents to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children." and- “In a long line of cases, we have held that, in addition to the specific freedoms protected by the Bill of Rights, the ‘liberty’ specially protected by the Due Process Clause includes the right … to direct the education and upbringing of one’s children”

lamme, the next step above supt is normally the BOE, but you can also go to the web "Arkansas state dept of ed" and enter the search word 'complaint'.

there you will find a number with the legal resource person at state level who will answer some of your questions and maybe give you resources for any questions they cant answer.

you might not have grounds for a complaint at state level (since 'da rules' arent being broken even though the ethics might be questionable in how things have been handled as youdescribe) but they certainly will let you know if there is anything you CAN do, through their offices, and of course there is no cost.