Idiot Teacher Retention Policy

Got to hand it to the Diocese of Scranton. Just when you thought that they couldn't stir up any more controversy in the wake of its massive school closings comes its policy of teacher retention. Rather than going by seniority, the Diocese is going by consecutive years of employment. So, if you're a female teacher, taught for a while (let's say 5 years), then took time off to raise a family before returning to teach for another 5 years, you would lose out to a teacher who taught for 6 consecutive years.

I don't even want to go to the discriminatory part of this policy because, after all, this is the Catholic Church -- women are not allowed to be priests, after all. What would be gender discrimination in the secular world is part of the religious ideology. What I find ironic is that in the press conference announcing the school closing, Bishop Joseph Martino lamented the fact that there were less Catholic children being born (who would be potential students for Catholic schools). Yet, when Catholic women teachers take time off to produce and care for those Catholic children, they are penalized for the time off they took to be parents.

Baffling policy.