Cincinnati paper says morality clauses hurt the community

One year after morality clauses were added to teacher's contracts in Cincinnati, the community is still calling for them to be removed. Language in this year's contract was tweaked but the core remains the same: the diocese as an employer is limiting the rights of its workers and policing their private lives. Teachers are still being classified as "ministers," a term which puts them in a legal loophole of employment protections.

This week the local paper, the Cincinnati Enquirer, took a stand in its editorial. "The archdiocese has every right to modify its contract and require teachers to adopt its new stance. But its insistence on policing its teachers feels less like principled leadership and more like Big Brother, with teachers' jobs and kids' fragile sense of self on the line," writes the editorial board. "We strongly encourage the archdiocese to reevaluate its morality clause, empowering its educators to respect the teaching authority of the church yet remain individuals in thought and expression." The article points out the horrible position the language puts teachers and students in, and the risk it poses especially to LGBT and questioning youth. The editorial board also rightly places the diocese's action in the context of a national trend that is hurting communities and the Church. You can read the whole column here.