Dear Mr. Riak:

Commissioner of Education Dr. Eric J. Smith asked the Office of Safe Schools to respond to your letter dated May 27, 2008, in which you mentioned discipline and corporal punishment in the Florida public school system. We would like to thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.

In Florida, the responsibility of operating, controlling, and supervising the public schools lies with the district school board and school superintendent. This is referred to as “local control.”

Upon receipt of your letter, Ms. Tonya Milton, Assistant Director, Office of Safe Schools, consulted with Ms. Denise Scheidler, Program Specialist in the Bureau of Educator Recruitment, Development, and Retention. Ms. Scheidler stated that within the Florida Statute 1004.04, F.S., the state governs to make sure that state approved programs incorporate discipline strategies within the courses they offer by making institutions provide “classroom management” strategies/techniques that the teacher should use to manage his/her classroom. None of the suggested strategies/techniques give the candidate any techniques on how to paddle students. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Classroom management courses provide the aspiring teacher techniques where no touching of the student is involved in the process at all. Nonviolence is the standard compliance that is taught and practiced during the aspiring teacher’s training within field experiences/final internships of “state approved” programs. Therefore, there is no source that we can direct you to that trains teachers on the correct method of hitting schoolchildren. To read 1004.04, F.S. in full, click on the following link:

http://www.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?mode=View%20Statutes&SubMenu=1&App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=1004.04&URL=CH1004/Sec04.HTM

Jordan Riak's response to Joe Davis June 12, 2008 Dear Mr. Davis: Thank you for your prompt and helpful response. I am very encouraged to read in your letter that in Florida, "nonviolence is the standard that is taught and practiced during the aspiring teacher's training..." Your department is to be commended for that. What worries me, however, is the apparent disconnect between theory and practice. At some point, it would seem, teacher training, with its laudable high standards, gives way to "local control." (You describe "local control" in the second paragraph of your letter.) I assume you are aware that paddling (for which no paddler has been trained) is occurring in some Florida schools. Is that any less dangerous, say, than permitting teachers to perform medical procedures on students, e.g., giving a flu shot or extracting a bad tooth? Clearly, if amateur medicine is not okay, then battering a child's pelvic region with a wooden board is not okay for the same reasons. Do you foresee a time in Florida public education when questionable standards of school practice will be brought into line with the high standards of teacher training? How are you using the authority of your office to achieve that goal, and do you have timetable for reform? Sincerely, Jordan Riak, Exec. Dir., Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education riak@nospank.net

If we may be of further assistance or respond to any additional questions, please contact Ms. Shari Moore, Program Manager, Office of Safe Schools, by phone at (850) 245-9956 or via email at Shari.Moore@fldoe.org.

Sincerely,

Joe Davis, Chief

Bureau of Family and Community Outreach

JD/tm