Joan Hunt
Deputy General Counsel
Dept. of Education

Dear Joan Hunt,

Thank you for your prompt reply. I am pleased to learn that Louisiana State Superintendent Pastorek does not advocate corporal punishment. Can we extrapolate from his lack of advocacy for the practice, a frank, unequivocal opposition to it?

You say he is convening a task force to study and make recommendations regarding local discretion. I hope his task force goes straight to the heart of the problem: local discretion itself -- which is merely thinly disguised buck-passing. I respectfully suggest, if they believe they can justify retention of corporal punishment because they've tinkered with the policy, then they are wasting their time and taxpayers' money, and leaving Louisiana school children at risk. One can't turn a fundamentally bad practice into something beneficial by modifying its rules any more than one can adjust tobacco usage to make it healthful, or drunk driving to make it safe. What's wrong is wrong. Period. If the task force is honestly doing its job, it will urge the immediate banning of educators' presumed right to assault and batter children. One meeting should be enough.

We have a booklet, "Plain Talk About Spanking," which we have been supplying at no charge since 1992, with good effect, to bodies such as your task force. I'm mailing you a few samples today. If, after reading it, you feel it would make the task force members' job easier, please let me know how many to send. One can also read it online at www.nospank.net/pt2008.htm

Sincerely,

Jordan Riak, Exec. Dir., Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education (PTAVE); Web site: "Project NoSpank" at www.nospank.net; PTAVE, P.O. Box 1033, Alamo, CA 94507 US; Tel: 925-831-1661; FAX: 925-838-8914