Bill would ban corporal punishment in NM public schools

April 06, 2011

Pressure is building on Governor Martinez to sign a bill that would ban corporal punishment in public schools statewide. Supporters rallied at the University of New Mexico at noon today, urging the governor to sign the bill. It passed narrowly in this year's legislative session, after heated debate in the House and the Senate. " Where else but in a public school in the state of New Mexico right now can you actually inflict some sort of damage to a child, hoping to change some sort of behavior," Rep. Rick Miera, (D) Albuquerque, asked the crowd. " I think that's archaic and that needs to stop, period." Miera, chairman of the House Education Committee, sponsored the bill.