Catholic Schools And The Law

A practical guide to helping today's Catholic school teachers deal with the legal issues facing them.

The laws affecting education in the United States today can generally be classified according to four categories: (1) Constitutional law (both state and federal); (2) statutes and regulations; (3) common law principles; and (4) contract law. Students and teachers in private schools are not protected by federal Constitutional law because they are private agencies. For example, Catholic school administrators can restrict both student and teacher speech. In the Catholic school, contract law is the predominant governing law. The existence and roles of all parties involved in Catholic schools are governed by canon law, the law of the Catholic Church. Although civil courts will not allow religious institutions to evade legal responsibilities by invoking church law, churches have significant autonomy within the wide parameter imposed by civil law. After an overview of law as it pertains to Catholic schools, the next three chapters explore the legal duties and responsibilities of those involved in Catholic schools: bishops, pastors, principals, board members, teachers, students, and parents of students. The final section looks at some special situations such as corporal punishment, search and seizure, negligence, child abuse, and copyright laws. The book concludes with a detailed glossary and an index. (65 references) (MLF)

In Homophobia in the Hallways, Tonya D. Callaghan interrogates institutionalized homophobia and transphobia in the publicly-funded Catholic school systems of Ontario and Alberta.

In the past two decades in the United States, more than 1,600 Catholic elementary and secondary schools have closed, and more than 4,500 charter schools—public schools that are often privately operated and freed from certain regulations—have opened, many in urban areas. With a particular emphasis on Catholic school closures, Lost Classroom, Lost Community examines the implications of these dramatic shifts in the urban educational landscape. More than just educational institutions, Catholic schools promote the development of social capital—the social networks and mutual trust that form the foundation of safe and cohesive communities. Drawing on data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods and crime reports collected at the police beat or census tract level in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, Margaret F. Brinig and Nicole Stelle Garnett demonstrate that the loss of Catholic schools triggers disorder, crime, and an overall decline in community cohesiveness, and suggest that new charter schools fail to fill the gaps left behind. This book shows that the closing of Catholic schools harms the very communities they were created to bring together and serve, and it will have vital implications for both education and policing policy debates.

This booklet provides prospective and current Catholic school board members with basic information concerning civil law as it affects schools in general and Catholic schools in particular. Chapter 1 describes the two main types of Catholic school boards: consultative boards, in which the pastor of the diocese has final authority to accept the recommendations; and boards with limited jurisdiction, constituted by the pastor to govern the parish education program, subject to certain decisions reserved to the pastor and the bishop. Chapter 2 outlines the laws affecting Catholic education in the United States, including constitutional law, statutes and regulations, common law, and contract law. Chapter 3 discusses tort liability of schools, focusing on cases brought against schools for negligence, corporal punishment, search and seizure, and defamation. Chapter 4 discusses the duties and rights of school employees, particularly with regard to discipline and dismissal of teachers. Chapter 5 discusses the duties and responsibilities of board members to the diocese and church, to the principal, to teachers, and to parents, students, and the community. The concluding chapter offers general recommendations to Catholic board members for dealing with tort law, for developing a parent/student handbook that expresses the school board's philosophy, and for adhering to due process. A glossary of terms is included. (TE)