Teachers and bail outs

I clipped this out of USA Today last week because I thought it was amusing. Maybe its not. Clearly, teachers with classes full of wild students should be able to spank them. I'm okay with that. Unfortunately, in schools today if a kid plays hooky his teacher might be inclined to send a thank-you note home. I know that in some high schools, teachers have a lot of respect for their students. That's because the students are older than they are! So, what's the government supposed to do about education? How about start by untying the teachers hands?