SANTA FE - Paddling students in New Mexico's public schools would be outlawed under a bill approved Tuesday by the House of Representatives.

The vote was 36-31 and went largely along party lines. Most Democrats opposed spanking in schools, and most Republicans said it should be an option if local school boards see fit.

The sponsor, Rep. Rick Miera, D-Albuquerque, said 33 of the state's 89 school districts still allow corporal punishment.

Schools are the only place where the government sanctions infliction of pain as punishment, Miera said. Striking someone is not allowed in the military, in prisons or in mental hospitals, he said.

Miera described corporal punishment as "assault."

Rep. Dennis Roch, R-Texico, countered that assault is a crime done with malice. Corporal punishment is a legal means of disciplining students to put them on the right course, said Roch, an assistant school superintendent.

He also argued that the Legislature should not set policy for school boards, whose members see their constituents regularly and know their community's standards.

Rep. Dennis Kintigh, R-Roswell, said the bill was "fatally flawed" because it did not mention other forms of physical punishment in schools, such as running laps for misbehavior in physical education class.

Another Republican, Rep. Dianne Hamilton of Silver City, broke ranks with her party. She said she saw no good from hitting children, and thought it appropriate that the 1929 corporal punishment law

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be wiped off the books.

Perhaps the strongest denunciation of corporal punishment came from Rep. Mary Helen Garcia, D-Las Cruces, a retired teacher and principal. She said the key to an orderly school is not the threat of hitting a student. Teachers and administrators who gain the respect of students have no need to paddle anybody, Garcia said.

A similar proposal to outlaw corporal punishment failed in the Senate nine days ago on an 18-18 vote. The House bill now moves to the Senate for a new round of consideration.

Miera's proposal is HB 172.

Santa Fe Bureau Chief Milan Simonich can be reached at msimonich@-tnmnp.com or 505-820-6898. His blog is at nmcapitolreport.com.