There’s a story bubbling to the surface right now that you’ll probably be hearing about from other news sources.
Here’s what we know so far – A fifth-grade teacher who’s been teaching at a Catholic elementary school for 11 years is not being asked to return next Fall.
Why?
According to a newspaper:
In a letter sent to St. Joseph’s staff and families, Trish Cameron said she was told June 1 she would not be offered a contract for the following school year because of her response to a question on a self-evaluation.
The question concerned whether she supported the Catholic Church’s teachings, she wrote in the letter.
Her response, as quoted in her letter, reads: “I do not agree w/ all Church teachings on a personal level but I do not bring my own opinions into our religion classes. We tend to focus on respect and love for one another and living out our call as servants whenever a ‘political’ topic crops (which it rarely, if ever, does).”
After a later discussion with school administration, Cameron said in the letter that she told them she did not agree with the church’s stance against gay marriage. Because of her dissent, she was asked to write a brief letter of resignation.
Families and staff also received a letter signed by Principal Toby Bierl and Superintendent and church Monsignor Mike Foltz. That letter stated that because of “an unfortunate circumstance” and the school’s “fiduciary responsibility” as a “Catholic-Christian school,” Cameron was asked to resign.
So if the media’s looking for the next story where they can paint the Catholic Church as bullying women, this might just fit the bill. So when the media’s done with the whole Vatican vs. the poor widdle nuns meme or the bishops’ war on women story, maybe they could jump right into the fired teacher story.
The teacher seems like a good person and so far she’s refused to say much more than, “In my honest to goodness heart, I want the interest in this story to build bridges for all the right reasons, not to tear things down. I feel like perhaps there is a wave of interest that may need to come and go before I speak about this.”
Certainly we don’t know the whole story here but I think it’s worth noting that there’s no mention of a lawsuit being filed. Hey, in 21st century America that’s worth noting.
But what’s also worth noting is that because of a recent Supreme Court case Hosanna vs. Tabor, this is a slam dunk. The school has the absolute right to act in this way. But be prepared for the media to be outraged that a Catholic school acted…well…Catholic.
