Moral Code for Catholic School Employees

NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE, June 26—School officials with the Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a statement requiring that all employees of archdiocese schools abide by the Church's Code of Canon Law, the New Orleans daily reported.

Employees may be fired if they break the code by, for example, having or aiding in an abortion, bearing or fathering a child out of wedlock, or cohabiting. Archdiocesan Superintendent J. Rene Coman said the rules were “part of an effort to preserve the religious mission” of the schools. He added that distributing the code of conduct could help prevent misunderstandings with teachers, and could offer legal protection if a school is targeted by an employee lawsuit.

Ten School-Choice Studies Find Benefits

PUBLIC INTEREST, Summer 2001—On many different measures of quality, school voucher-style programs show good results, the national policy review argued.

Public Interest surveyed 10 studies, including several “random assignment” studies in which students got vouchers based on lotteries, so luck is the only difference between students who switch to private schools and students who don't.

Studies found that parents of voucher students were much more satisfied with their children's education than parents of students who remained in public schools. Seven studies also found test score improvements.

The studies found that the average family using vouchers had a very low income. Between 70% and 77% of voucher students in various cities came from single-mother families.

School choice in Milwaukee and Florida seemed to produce a surge of energy in the public schools—e.g., “failing grade” Florida public schools saw a sharp jump in scores even before students actually got promised vouchers.

One study found that private-school students volunteered more. Private schools, especially religious schools, were found to be significantly more racially integrated than public schools.