Friday, October 10, 2008

Catholic Education: Statement from the Bishops of Maryland

Having now had a chance to read the letter, published on the Archdiocesan website and in the Catholic Standard, it seems that the Bishop’s have decided to target one proposal this year for passage in the Maryland Legislature: BOAST (Building Opportunities for All Students and Teachers). This program has been pushed by the Maryland Catholic Conference (MCC) for at least five or six years but has been unsuccessful in passage. (Gee, what else is new with the MCC.) Whether it will pass this year will have to be seen.

However, as I have said before, we need to identify and target those who legislators who vote against these proposals, such as Sen. Richard Magdeleno and Rep. Jeffrey D. Waldstriecher. We need identify them and then urge our fellow Catholics not to support them. The only way to pass legislation we want.


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On a side note, during the Democratic primary, I would see a number of bumper stickers in my parish parking lot on a Sunday pushing for Hillary or Obama. This past Sunday, I did not see one. I don’t know if this is a sign but I will take it as one.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Our Catholic school teachers have absolutly no protection. They have to sign an Archdiocene agreement that allows them to be fired for any reason at any time by our Archdiocese. They do not have any recourse. I do not believe our parents and parishoners are aware of the fragil position our Catholic teachers are in. How did this happen? Our Catholic teachers can not form a union,can not be outspoken, they are at the mercy of an archbishop that has closed 15 Catholic schools in the last two year. We need to shed light on this unamerican travisity.

A WASHINGTONDC CATHOLIC said...

This rule was changed a couple of years ago. However, this is not uncommon in Catholic schools. Before that, teachers had tenure after three years.

There is good and bad to it. Yes, tere can be instances of getting rid of teachers who the principal has butted heads with. On the other hand, schools can be stuck with really bad teachers and once tenured, parents begin to pull their children out. Then it affects the entire school.