FARGO (AP) - A West Fargo music teacher who was fired two years ago for striking an 8-year-old student in her class is pressing legislators to draft a bill that would give teachers more legal recourse.

"I don't think anybody should have to go through what I did," Mavis Tjon said. "There's no protection for teachers."

Four Fargo-area state legislators are looking into a bill that would require school districts to follow the state statute on corporal punishment. State School Superintendent Wayne Sanstead said it would be a monumental change in policy.

"We're much more a local-control state than most," he said.

State statute defines corporal punishment as the willful infliction of physical pain. The West Fargo School District's policy does not include "willful" in its definition.

Tjon, 64, who had taught for 25 years, said she tapped a third-grade music student on the head to get his attention in October 2006.

"Should I have done that? No," she said. "Did I hurt him? No."

Tjon was immediately suspended and later fired for violating the school district's corporal punishment rules. She sued in January 2007 for wrongful discharge, but East Central District Judge Frank Racek ruled in the district's favor this past April. Tjon did not ask the state Supreme Court to review the case because she did not think she would prevail.

The state Education Standards and Practices Board, which licenses teachers in the state, did not discipline Tjon, though Tjon decided not to renew her license.

"For all of this to happen has been really hard," she said. "I have never wanted to be a public person at all."

West Fargo School Board members declined comment on the case, but Human Resources Director Robin Hill said, "I believe the situation was handled appropriately."

Rep. Blair Thoreson, R-Fargo, wonders.

"I certainly feel that Mavis was probably wronged," he said. "I don't want to see it happen to someone else."

Also involved in the bill talks are Sen. Judy Lee, R-West Fargo; Rep. Don Clark, R-Fargo; and Sen. Tim Flakoll, R-Fargo.