Series 2009-12D (Revised)
February 2009
Trends in Discipline and the Decline in the Use of Corporal Punishment
Introduction
Corporal punishment is defined by Florida Statutes as the moderate use of physical force or physical contact by a
teacher or principal to maintain discipline or to enforce school rules. The school board shall have the authority to
prohibit the use of corporal punishment, provided that the school board adopts or has adopted a written program
of alternative control or discipline (s. 1006.07(1), Florida Statutes).
Over the past twenty years, the use of corporal punishment by Florida school districts has drastically decreased
(see table below). For the 2007-08 school year, there were 4,869 students receiving corporal punishment,
compared to 84,495 in 1987-88.
In 2007-08, 30 school districts reported students receiving corporal punishment. In 1987-88, all school districts
administered corporal punishment except Palm Beach. (Note that these figures reflect the number of students
receiving the discipline.) In 1992-93, sixteen districts reported no use of corporal punishment at all. Since then,
districts have steadily reported fewer students receiving corporal punishment.
Figure 1: Corporal Punishment versus In-School and Out-of-School Suspensions
600,000
500,000
498,702
496,913
446,634
400,000
350,927
300,000
200,000
100,000
Corporal Punishment
Suspensions
253,435
84,495
20,315
12,813
10,039
4,869
0
1987-88
1992-93
1997-98
2002-03
2007-08
Florida Department of Education
Eric J. Smith, Commissioner
Revised
Discipline by Race
The graphs below reflect the racial breakdown within each disciplinary action.
Figure 2: Corporal Punishment
Black, 26.9%
Hispanic, 5.2%
Asian, 0.3%
White, 63.8%
Am. Indian, 0.3%
Multiracial, 3.5%
Figure 3: In-School Suspension
Black, 35.8%
Hispanic, 21.9%
Asian, 0.8%
Am. Indian, 0.3%
Multiracial, 3.1%
White, 38.1%
Figure 4: Out-of-School Suspension
Black, 42.6%
Hispanic, 18.4%
Asian, 0.7%
Am. Indian, 0.3%
Multiracial, 3.1%
White, 34.8%
Figure 5: Expulsion
Black, 35.1%
Hispanic, 17.3%
Asian, 1.1%
Am. Indian, 0.7%
Multiracial, 2.7%
White, 43.1%
2
Revised
Table 1: Student Discipline Data, 2007-08
District
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
72
73
74
75
ALACHUA
BAKER
BAY
BRADFORD
BREVARD
BROWARD
CALHOUN
CHARLOTTE
CITRUS
CLAY
COLLIER
COLUMBIA
DADE
DESOTO
DIXIE
DUVAL
ESCAMBIA
FLAGLER
FRANKLIN
GADSDEN
GILCHRIST
GLADES
GULF
HAMILTON
HARDEE
HENDRY
HERNANDO
HIGHLANDS
HILLSBOROUGH
HOLMES
INDIAN RIVER
JACKSON
JEFFERSON
LAFAYETTE
LAKE
LEE
LEON
LEVY
LIBERTY
MADISON
MANATEE
MARION
MARTIN
MONROE
NASSAU
OKALOOSA
OKEECHOBEE
ORANGE
OSCEOLA
PALM BEACH
PASCO
PINELLAS
POLK
PUTNAM
ST. JOHNS
ST. LUCIE
SANTA ROSA
SARASOTA
SEMINOLE
SUMTER
SUWANNEE
TAYLOR
UNION
VOLUSIA
WAKULLA
WALTON
WASHINGTON
DEAF/BLIND
FAU LAB SCH
FSU CHTR SCH
FAMU LAB SCH
UF LAB SCH
STATE
Suspensions
Out-of-School*
In-School*
964
240
2,468
375
8,518
10,833
80
1,431
1,557
2,691
1,303
1,170
20,517
300
243
22,849
7,482
1,119
101
1,509
258
204
216
388
420
1,021
2,330
1,248
13,510
186
1,997
867
282
37
4,249
7,362
2,597
697
61
423
5,235
4,934
1,805
499
841
2,553
1,052
12,034
6,894
16,417
5,439
8,348
14,014
1,375
1,996
5,920
1,148
3,564
3,988
983
671
562
236
6,977
325
405
323
9
14
121
28
39
232,852
57
123
2,708
795
3,452
20,566
190
1,879
1,942
5,993
5,705
2,071
28,323
3
356
18,409
1,767
1,784
167
1,070
395
201
383
455
64
934
3,859
2,943
29,783
43
1,730
1,039
14
208
2,783
10,423
3,392
1,415
161
598
5,000
3,500
875
857
1,330
722
858
10,015
5,139
11,387
8,859
15,637
8,252
1,686
969
5,861
1,583
2,962
4,652
1,083
1,044
869
279
10,260
813
616
603
10
77
80
264,061
Corporal Punishment*
9
27
Expulsions
11
51
60
153
116
1
5
44
15
4
33
18
10
2
1
14
104
13
123
176
182
216
62
39
3
5
9
8
11
15
66
455
844
18
6
10
5
24
40
129
133
83
14
185
4
1
1
3
3
35
4
67
1
26
26
517
234
4
21
40
24
1
25
8
47
89
9
18
5
133
237
332
270
3
7
4,869
878
Membership
27,203
5,066
25,956
3,400
73,076
256,186
2,246
17,361
16,028
35,996
42,530
10,058
344,913
4,952
2,119
122,606
40,921
12,890
1,285
6,414
2,750
1,388
2,050
1,952
5,107
7,039
22,721
12,281
191,965
3,399
17,606
7,319
1,106
1,118
40,996
79,451
32,537
6,022
1,484
2,715
42,584
41,547
18,067
8,278
10,980
29,123
7,003
172,028
51,955
170,745
66,778
106,046
94,716
11,492
28,916
38,837
25,397
41,057
64,933
7,650
5,978
3,299
2,315
63,065
5,264
7,002
3,534
646
2,018
2,248
462
1,152
2,628,754
*These figures reflect the number of students receiving the discipline within the discipline category.
*These figures reflect the number of students receiving the discipline within the discipline category.
As a service to Florida school districts, each Data Report presents information on education topics of current interest. Each report is prepared by Education Information and
Accountability Services, 852 Turlington Bldg., 325 W. Gaines Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400. For further information, call (850) 245-0400 or visit our web address at
http://www.fldoe.org/eias.
3