BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's local public school districts still will be allowed to paddle and spank students for misbehavior.

The House overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to ban corporal punishment in Louisiana's public schools.

Only 34 lawmakers Monday voted for the prohibition bill by Rep. Barbara Norton, a Shreveport Democrat. Sixty-one lawmakers voted against the measure.

Norton said corporal punishment teaches student about violence. She said 31 other states have outlawed such punishment and have found other ways to discipline students at school.

Republican Rep. Rogers Pope, a retired school superintendent from Denham Springs, said local school districts should decide whether to use corporal punishment, not the state.

Louisiana's school boards association says 38 of the state's 69 public school districts allow schools to use corporal punishment.