AUSTIN, Texas, May 13 (UPI) -- The Texas House passed a bill giving parents more voice in whether schools can administer corporal punishment to children.
The legislation, HB 359, passed Thursday and now goes to the Senate. It would give parents the right to prevent their child from being paddled or spanked by school officials in districts that impose corporal punishment, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
It would not apply to rural districts.
State Rep. Alma Allen, a retired school teacher and principal, has been trying to ban corporal punishment altogether in Texas schools since she arrived in the Legislature six years ago.
"This is a real start," she said.
Current law allows school districts to use corporal punishment with or without a parent's consent. Allen said the cost of lawsuits has already ended the practice of spanking or swatting.
Arlington Rep. Bill Zedler said the bill takes away "the ability of teachers to maintain discipline in the classroom."
Rep. Scott Hochberg said parents should be the ones to discipline their children.
"That is not too much of a right to give to a parent," Hochberg said.
Republican Rep. Phil King of Weatherford waxed nostalgic on the swats he took as a student, saying they "made a difference in my life." He said he vowed -- between his second and third swat -- not to skip any more classes.
