They were as wrong as the others who told us that corporal punishment would solve the same problems.
You should have the right to send your children to schools where physical punishment is allowed. And I should have the same right to send my children to a school where my children are not touched physically, except by me. Since government schools are mandatory for those who do not have the resources to educate them privately it is a good thing that government employees are not given the right to touch children for purposes of "punishment".
If you send your child to a government school, you must live within the bounds of the school. If your child is disruptive, they will be punished in a manner decided by the school. If you don't like the method, you can remove your child.
Your child will be hit in school. That is guaranteed. The question is whether the attacker will be sufficiently deterred from hitting your child again. If you want to remove the consequences, that is your business. But your child will live with that deterrence. I would rather my son get paddled in school than beaten by his classmates. I have children in a public elementary school and their biggest complaint is lack of discipline by wimpy administrators.