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A bill that would ban corporal punishment in Louisiana's public schools cleared the state House Education Committee Wednesday after testimony described the practice as egregious, violent and child abuse.
Metairie Republican Rep. Stephanie Hilferty's House Bill 324 would outlaw the practice of paddling, spanking or any other form of corporal punishment in the state's 69 public school systems. An amendment excluded private and parochial schools from the bill.
"Corporal punishment is state-sponsored child abuse," testified Susan East Nelson, executive director of the Louisiana Partnership for Children and Families.
The bill advanced on a 9-2 vote by the committee, which sent it to the full House.