In this article, the author explores the question: How can individuals understand the impacts of clergy sexual abuse upon K-12 teachers' effectiveness with all children? Given the parallels between the work of teachers and religious authority figures, the damage to one authority figure's credibility, says the author, is likely to impact another's trustworthiness and effectiveness. This study utilized ethnic or racial identity development frameworks to make analogies to, differentiate from, and better understand the content and relevance of this analysis. The author's interest in this study resulted from his own experience of emancipatory spirituality, wherein educational outcomes included social justice, based upon the dignity and "sacredness" of each person. The author concludes this brief exploration with observations related to K-12 teacher identity and their role regarding social justice. He recommends that a future study be conducted to identify, on a larger scale, the complexity of racial identity development as it is nested within educational reform or religious authority sexual abuse reform work. (Contains 3 notes.)