[On PTAVE stationery.]

June 27, 1997

Hon. George W. Bush,
Governor
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, TX 78711

Dear Governor Bush,

On February 24, 1997 this organization wrote to the President and First Lady to inquire what advice they could offer parents who are frightened that their children may be beaten and injured at school by adults in authority. Enclosed with our letter was a photograph showing the injuries to a 12-year-old schoolchild in Texas resulting from having been beaten in the pelvic area by his school principal. The principal, a large, strong man and former athlete, wielded a wooden board while the child was restrained by another teacher. Our letter was referred to William Modzeleski, Director of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program who, in turn, advised us that the issue of child-beating by school personnel is an issue outside the Federal Government's purview and that we should take the matter up at the state or local level.

On that advice, we wrote to Dr. Michael A. Moses, Commissioner of Education, Texas. Our letter to Dr. Moses of April 17, 1997 presented the same question, and included a copy of the same photograph, as our earlier letter to the White House. After about six weeks, still having received no response from Dr. Moses, we resubmitted our query by Certified Mail. That letter was received and signed for on June 6, 1997, but to date has not been answered. At this stage, we can only assume the Commissioner has no intention of responding. We are therefore submitting the same question to you, even though specific matters of education policy and practice may fall outside your direct authority.

Were a child of yours, or a relative's child, or the child of a constituent, sent home in the condition of the child in the enclosed photograph, I am certain you would take the matter very seriously. You are aware, of course, that in your state the right of school personnel to batter any child in the pelvic area with a wooden board, even to the point of injury, is perfectly legal and that the perpetrators of such acts are powerfully protected. Not only do child-batters in the Texas school system act under color of law, but parents are prohibited from filing civil actions on behalf of their children who are injured by such acts.

What advice can you offer parents living in Texas - parents who object to this form of pediatric violence and who fear for their children's well-being at school?

As a public service, this letter and your response will be posted on our Web site, "Project NoSpank," in the file "Talking to Texas" at www.nospank.net/txtalk.htm .

Thank you for your kind attention.

Sincerely,
[signature]
Jordan Riak,
Executive Director

cc:
William Modzeleski
Dr. Michael Moses
American Civil Liberties Union, Texas Branch

enclosure

STATE OF TEXAS
Office of the Governor

GEORGE W. BUSH
GOVERNOR

October 21, 1997

Mr.Jordan Riak
Executive Director
Parents and Teachers Against Violence In Education
Post Office Box 1033
Alamo, CA 94507-7033

Dear Mr. Riak:

Thank you for your letter to Governor Bush about corporal punishment in Texas schools.

Children are our most precious resource, and they must be protected. The Governor is sickened by violence against children.

Local parents, districts and school boards decide whether to permit corporal punishment within their school dìstricts. If a school district votes to adopt the practice, individual campuses can choose if they want to make it part of their campus rules. Some districts allow corporal punishment with certain restrictions ranging from prior parental consent to how the punishment is administered. As a practical matter, however, most Texas schools do not use corporal puníshment.

We have made much progress in aligning authority and responsibility at the local level. Our new education code reduces state regulation and gives local parents, teachers and school boards more freedom to innovate and to design schools that fit their communities' needs. The Governor encourages Texas parents and communities to be actively involved with their local schools.

Thank you for your concern about our children's well-being.

Sincerely,
[Signature]
SHIRLEY M. GREEN
Director of Correspondence and Constituent Services

SMG:kn

Post Office Box 12428 Austin, Texas 78711 (512) 436-2000 (Voice)(512) 475-3165 (TDD)

[On PTAVE stationery]

October 27, 1997

Shirley M. Green,
Director of Correspondence and Constituent Services
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428 Austin, TX 78711

Dear Ms. Green:

Thank you for your response of October 21, 1997 on behalf of Governor Bush. You say: "Children are our most precious resource, and they must be protected. The Governor is sickened by violence against children." That's encouraging to hear. Unfortunately, words alone do not protect children. When one considers the fact that gross physical mistreatment of some children in some Texas schools is legal, systemic and unopposed, the Governor's personal abhorrence to violence against children is of little value. All it does is establish his credentials as a kind-hearted man who wishes no harm to kids.

You say that "most Texas schools do not use corporal punishment." What is your point? If corporal punishment is a good thing, then the schools that don't use it are remiss and their children are being deprived. If it is a bad thing, as most of the civilized world agrees it is, then why isn't it prohibited statewide?

Perhaps your claim that scholastic buttocks-beating occurs only in a minority of Texas schools is intended to soothe us. Indeed, a minority of Texans drive drunk, a minority of Texans batter their spouses, and a minority of Texas banks experience armed robbery. But who would pretend that nothing needs to be done about such crimes because they only affect a minority? You seem to view schoolchildren as produce being delivered to market and that it is acceptable for a certain percentage to be damaged in transit and have to be discarded. No, children are not tomatoes or heads of lettuce. They are not expendable in any proportion.

You boast about "aligning authority at the local level" even though, in realistic terms, that means allowing the continued brutalization of schoolchildren. This excuse for abrogation of moral responsibility has been offered us from every level of government from the White House to the schoolhouse. It seems to us that our nation's professed concern for abused children stops short of offending or inconveniencing their abusers.

If a Texas school district decided to cut the cost of new construction by using outhouses instead of indoor plumbing or by permitting male-only enrollment beyond the 8th grade, there would be a swift, high-level response. We'd see something like a replay of the recent widely reported incident in which President Clinton aggressively intervened on behalf of the nation's schoolchildren after tainted strawberries showed up in a school lunch room. But when someone raises the issue of children being battered in their pelvic area with wooden boards, there is only pious talk about giving the local folks "more freedom to innovate," etc. I think it is time someone reminded Governor Bush, and all other faint-hearted politicians, that "local control" also was slavery's and racial segregation's best friend.

Finally, I must remind you that the main point of my June 27th letter to the Governor was to ask what advice he has for a parent who objects to this form of pediatric violence by teachers, and fears for her child's safety at school. My question remains unanswered. Your letter ignored it completely.

Sincerely,
[Signature]
Jordan Riak, Executive Director

cc:
Michael A. Moses
David Anderson
William Modzeleski
Hillary Rodham Clinton

[On PTAVE stationery]
July 2, 1997

Diana Fite, Chair
Texas Medical Association

Blue Ribbon Panel on Family Violence
16100 Cairnway, Suite 230
Houston, TX 77084-3500

Dear Dr. Fite:

On June 12, 1997, I wrote to the Texas Medical Association Blue Ribbon Panel on Family Violence in care of you and CCed Megan Haley. Having not received an acknowledgement of that letter, I am writing again to ascertain 1) whether or not you received it and 2) if and when the questions raised in that letter will be addressed by the Panel. In her e-mail to me of May 19, Ms. Haley said that the Panel would be meeting in approximately two months. So, that time is drawing close and I am hopeful that my June 12 letter has made it onto the agenda. Please let me know the status.

Sincerely,
[signature]
Jordan Riak,
Executive Director

cc: Ms. Haley

Subject: Receipt of Letter
Date: Wed, 09 Jul 1997 11:41:00 -0600
From: Megan Haley
To: ptave@silcon.com

Jordan-
I just wanted to let you know that I did receive your letter of June 12th. Thank you. As of this time we do not have a meeting of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Family Violence scheduled. Rest assured that I will make sure that the information from your organization is presented to the panel members when we meet next. I have also sent a copy on to Dr. Fite for review.
Megan Haley- Texas Medical Association

The response of the Texas Medical Association Blue Ribbon Panel on Family Violence to PTAVE's original query will be printed here immediately upon receipt.

[On PTAVE stationery, with copy of 4/17/97 letter and photograph, sent Certified Mail.]

June 2, 1997

Dr. Michael A. Moses,
Commissioner of Education
Texas Education Agency
William B. Travis Building
1701 North Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78701-1494

Dear Dr. Moses,

On April 17th we wrote to you to ask what advice you had to offer parents who are worried about dangerously violent mistreatment of their children at the hands of school teachers and administrators. Our letter was accompanied by a photograph showing a Houston schoolchild's injuries, received as a result of having been battered on the buttocks with a wooden board by his school principal. The family's physician describes the injury as "reddish and bluish discoloration (bruises and ecchymoses) covering at least 75% of his buttocks." As yet, we have had no response from you and are therefore writing again and enclosing a copy of the original letter and photograph.

In the interim, we have been contacted by a parent in Floresville, Texas whose child was also battered in the pelvic area by a teacher wielding a wooden board. The force of the beating caused the boy to limp for several days. The family is especially alarmed because this child suffers from degenerative disk disease of the cervical spine which had been diagnosed only a few weeks prior to the beating. He had been experiencing back pain and an M.R.I. disclosed the condition. Needless to say, school personnel do not take much interest in the state of health of a child they intend to batter, nor do they have the qualifications to assess the medical ramifications in a case such as this one. I told the mother about our letter to you and she is eager to hear what you advise.

As a public service to parents, particularly parents in Texas, we are posting our letters to you and your response when it comes, on our Web site, Project NoSpank at http://silcon.com/~ptave.

Sincerely,
[signature]
Jordan Riak,

Executive Director
enclosure

Texas Education Agency, 1701 North Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701-1494, 512/463-9734, FAX: 512/463- 9838

MIKE MOSES
COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION

August 26, 1997

Mr. Jordan Riak, Executive Director
Parents and Teachers Against Violence m Education
P. O. Box 1033
Alamo, CA 94507-7033

Dear Mr. Riak:

You have written a series of letters to Mike Moses, Commissioner of Education, relating to the administration of corporal punishment in Texas public schools. I am writing in response to your inquiries on behalf of the commissioner.

You requested information regarding options for parents who are opposed to corporal punishment in public schools or who consider corporal punishment administered to the child to be excessive. Decisions regarding whether or not to include corporal punishment in a discipline management plan, and under what circumstances and conditions, is decided independently by each school district. Each school district is required to have a discipline management program as part of its district improvement plain, which is developed by the superintendent with the assistance of a district-level planning and decision-making committee (see Texas Education Code, §§37.083 and 11.252). A parent who is concerned about district policy regarding the use of corporal punishment should address those concerns to the persons in the district responsible for decisions regarding discipline management. If a parent is concerned that a particular administration of corporal punishment was excessive, the parent should consult the school district's policies to determine the appropriate person with whom to voice those concerns. Typically, the first point of contact would be the principal of the campus at which the incident occurred.

Outside of the school system, other contacts a parent could make could include local law enforcement for a determination of whether a criminal assault has occurred, a report of the incident to the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services as suspected child abuse, or a report to the State Board of Educator Certification for a determination of whether a sanction against a certified educator's state certificate is appropriate. If a parent has questions regarding the possibility of a civil action regarding the matter, the parent should consult with private legal counsel.

You also inquired about precautions taken to prevent persons who may be inclined to use corporal punishment inappropriately from entering the teaching profession. Decisions regarding the issuance of educator certification are made by the State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) and decisions regarding school district employment are made by local school districts. SBEC and school districts independently decide what information should be sought regarding applicants from available resources. To the extent that criminal history record information may be helpful, it is available to both SBEC and local school districts through the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Sincerely,
[Signature]
David Anderson
Chief Counsel
Office of Legal Services