Reply #46: I teach in a Catholic school. There's no silence over here.

[knitter4democracy]

I hear about it from parents, from the students, from teachers and staff. Everyone who has anything to do with the schools has to go through a background check, special training on how to spot a child being abused, and has to go through staff training updates regularly. I'm a long-term sub for a teacher who was caught alone in his classroom with a female student and who was summarily fired. No questions asked--it was inappropriate, and he knew that. His name isn't even mentioned anymore anywhere, and the principal gets a very dark look on her face whenever anyone mentions it.

I went to a public high school where a teacher married a former student he'd had an affair with while she was there and another teacher kept teaching even after many issues came to light with how he treated female students (he was skeezy--I had him as a student and did everything I could to avoid the prick). That kind of stuff would never be tolerated in my Catholic school, and the parents are the reasons why--they're mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.

Sure, we made our donations level so we could renovate the school, but people knew exactly where that money was going, and it wasn't going to the archdiocese. Those donations are down, from what I've heard, and aren't likely to go back up again.