June 26, 2015 (
CardinalNewmanSociety)
-- In two eye-opening reports, education reform experts at The Cardinal
Newman Society have compiled and analyzed employment documents from
more than 125 Catholic dioceses in the United States, showing evidence
in the Church of a broad and substantial movement toward high standards
for Catholic school teachers with regard to faith and morals.
In the past year,
several dioceses have
announced new “morality clauses” and other improvements to teacher
contracts, handbooks and other employment documents, ensuring that
teachers are aware of expectations that they model Catholic values and
beliefs both inside and outside the classroom. A firestorm of criticism
has engulfed
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone in San Francisco, who proposed similar changes to local teacher agreements.
But an important study by The Cardinal Newman Society’s Dr. Jamie Arthur,
released a couple days ago,
shows that Archbishop Cordileone and his fellow bishops have only been
implementing standards that the Vatican has required for several
decades, wholly consistent with the Church’s vision for Catholic
education.
And now two new reports from the Newman Society—authored by Dr.
Denise Donohue and Dr. Dan Guernsey, deputy director and director
respectively of the Society’s K-12 education programs—clearly
demonstrate that the several bishops whose updated teacher standards
have been reported by news media are not alone in their efforts.
Instead, there appears to be a national consensus among Catholic bishops
that faith and morals clauses are needed in teacher agreements.
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| Archbishop Cordileone, San Francisco |
|
“The work of these researchers provides valuable support to
Archbishop Cordileone and the whole Church,” said Patrick Reilly,
president of The Cardinal Newman Society. “Not only do these reports
dispel false claims that the bishops who are implementing strong teacher
standards are out of touch with the rest of the Church, but these
reports also will help bishops and school leaders engage in a national
conversation about the essential role of faithful Catholic teachers and
collaborate in strengthening the Catholic identity of America’s Catholic
schools.”
In their reports, Drs. Donohue and Guernsey find much diversity in
how dioceses articulate their faith and morals standards, and with what
sort of employment documents the standards are presented to current and
prospective employees in Catholic schools. But some dioceses have been
collaborating on specific language, and there are clear themes that run
through the standards, with apparent concern for hot-button moral issues
that are most likely to cause friction between Catholic schools and
teachers who do not fully embrace Catholic values.
The Newman Society authors identify and analyze several outstanding examples of diocesan policies in their paper,
Faith and Morals Language in Catholic School Teacher Employment Documents: Best Practices Brief.
“Best practice in invoking a faith or morals clause involves ensuring
the teacher understands and participates in the school’s religious
mission and is aware of areas of potential moral concern,” write Drs.
Donohue and Guernsey.
The “best practices brief” draws upon a much longer,
67-page compilation of sample language from more than 125 dioceses in the United States.
Among the model documents is the “pre-application statement” for
teachers in the Diocese of Sacramento, chosen because it includes “a
narrative on the mission of the Church and the expectation of employees
to share in that mission and give public witness to the Catholic faith
through their life choices,” the authors explain.
Provided to prospective teachers before they even apply for a
Catholic school position, the Sacramento statement is very specific
about Church teaching on issues like marriage—an especially important
point given the redefinition of marriage in California and the Supreme
Court ruling on marriage expected tomorrow or Monday.
The Diocese
informs applicants that “the notion of ‘gay marriage’, and the adoption
or placement of children in anything other than a traditional family
setting, secularism, the paring back of religious freedom rights, or the
restriction of… liberty of conscience, anti-Catholicism, or
anti-Catholic biases, [and] the abuse of alcohol or the use of illegal
narcotics or other controlled substances” are opposed to Catholic
morality and faith. Anyone who is unwilling to “authentically witness
the Catholic faith by their lives may wish to reflect and seek pastoral
guidance before applying for employment or ministry in the Church,” the
Diocese warns.
Other examples of teacher employment documents include stand-alone
faith and morals statements, witness statements, belief statements and
oaths, employee handbook policies and “safe environment” policies that
protect against child abuse but also require teachers’ moral behavior in
other respects.
Drs. Donohue and Guernsey note that in addition to explaining
particular points of moral concern for the Church, many dioceses will
also instruct teachers to consult the Vatican-approved
Catechism of the Catholic Church on all moral and faith questions.
“Direct reference to the entire
Catechism is a best
practice, because it not only solves the potential legal question of
where to find authoritative, clearly articulated, and binding
theological and moral norms for use in adjudication, but also has the
added benefit of addressing a much broader scope of possible flashpoints
in a deeper context than can be addressed in an employment document,”
the authors advise.
“This helps clarify two important legal questions in a termination
related to morality clauses,” they write. “Was the employee aware of
what was expected (did they know that their behavior violated
expectations), and how is immorality defined or understood in particular
instances so as to avoid an arbitrary enactment of the clause by the
employer?”
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| Bishop Vasa, Santa Rosa |
|
The Newman Society authors also have praise for the
Code of Ethics for the Teacher in a Catholic School issued
by Bishop Robert Vasa of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, because while it is
necessary that such documents be “legalistic,” Bishop Vasa takes great
care to also ensure “pastoral sensitivity, instruction and clarity.”
The
Code explains that “as human beings, we are called by
God to a life of holiness. We recognize that, without diminishing our
freedom, this call orients us to heed God in our thoughts, words and
deeds. We further recognize that this call is all the more compelling
for us since, in our lives and vocations as teacher/administrators in a
Catholic school, we have been entrusted with the task of helping
students ‘arrive at the fullness of the Christian life’ (Canon 794, §
1).”
Therefore, the
Code states, it is essential that Catholic
school teachers and leaders model an “exemplary life both personally and
professionally”—words that also appear in the Diocese’s employment
contracts. “Thus, whether we are at school or outside of school, our
public behavior is to be in conformity with Church teaching as expounded
in
The Catechism of the Catholic Church.”
While teaching in a Catholic school can be an extraordinary
experience for the faithful Catholic teacher, the authors note that
disputes with teachers who run afoul of diocesan standards can be
“painful, emotionally and socially charges, and potentially litigious.”
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| Bishop Barber, Oakland |
“Charity, clarity, humility, and justice will all need to come into
play in aiming for a peaceful resolution with the employee,” the authors
advise, citing the Diocese of Davenport’s termination policies as
exemplary in their avoidance of scandal and promotion of “mutual
respect, personal integrity and freedom of conscience.”
What the two reports demonstrate, the authors conclude, is that:
…there are different options for Catholic leadership to approach the
presentation and enforcement of faith and morals clauses for Catholic
school teachers. In seeking to implement faith and morals clauses, it is
prudent for the school to ensure that 1) it has properly highlighted
the fundamental religious nature of all of its efforts, 2) it has made
all teachers aware of their responsibility to advance the religious
mission of Catholic education, and 3) it seeks to ensure that the
teachers understand the scope of faith and morals transgressions that
might result in termination of employment.
Both reports—the
best practices brief and the
full compilation of diocesan materials—are posted online at The Cardinal Newman Society website.
The Cardinal Newman Society.
