Access Research NetworkThe Ohio Board of Education yesterday adopted a lesson plan for 10th-grade science that opponents predicted will prompt a lawsuit because it allows creationism into public classrooms.
"Ohio is now ground zero for the explosion of creationism that is sure to follow," said Patricia Princehouse, who teaches evolutionary biology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. "This is religious propaganda masquerading as science."
But after eight hours of impassioned testimony from science teachers, professors, lawyers and parents, the state board rejected the concerns, voting 13-5 to adopt the plan which includes "a critical analysis of evolution."
"Approving this lesson plan will be the beginning of this controversy, not the end," said Robin C. Hovis, a board member from Millersburg.
Earlier, the board by a 10-7 margin rejected Hovis' proposal to strip the controversial 21-page section from the plan and give it more study.
Michael Cochran, a board member from Columbus, questioned whether continued debate would change the outcome.
"No matter how many hours of debate or how many days we spend on this, I don't know if anyone's mind is going to be changed," he said.
Ohio once again is the focus of a national debate over what students should be taught about life on Earth. At odds are supporters of Darwin's theory of evolution and backers of intelligent design who argue that some life forms are too complex to be explained, therefore an unnamed higher power must have been involved.
The Ohio Academy of Science and numerous scientists charge that the lesson plan includes language from Jonathan Wells' Icons of Evolution , a leading book in the intelligent design movement. Although the belief is not mentioned by name, and references to Wells' book along with Web sites supportive of intelligent design were removed from the plan, critics contend that "the imprint of religious belief" remains.
"As a scientist and a religious person, I am both befuddled and incensed that the Board of Education has allowed one particular brand of religion to creep into a lesson plan that should be covering only science," Scott Moody, an associate professor of biology at Ohio University, told the board.
The Rev. George Murphy of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Akron, a former college physics professor, testified that the guidelines cater to those who oppose evolution on religious grounds.
"The lesson plan leaves the impression that the arguments against evolution are just as good as the arguments for evolution, and that just doesn't reflect the preponderance of evidence," he said.
But supporters say the plan for all 12 grades reflects the science standards adopted by the board more than a year ago which call for the critical analysis of evolution and included a disclaimer that the standards do not "mandate the teaching of intelligent design."
"I can't see a hint of intelligent design," said Thomas H. Marshall, an adjunct professor at Ohio State's Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering.
"We need to teach students critical thought," said Jack A. Chapin, an architect and parent from Westerville. "If evolution is true, it can withstand the scrutiny."
Florida State University law professor Steven Gey told the board that the lesson plan violates the Constitution by promoting religion, predicting the U.S. Supreme Court would strike it down.
As precedent, he cited a 1987 Supreme Court ruling against a Louisiana law which forced public schools that taught evolution to also teach creationism.
"You can remove the Web sites, you can remove Jonathan Wells, but you still have the structure," Gey said.
After the board meeting, Seth L. Cooper of the Discovery Institute, a policy group in Seattle that advocates intelligent design and where Wells is a fellow, said there's nothing to litigate.
"The plan adopted today doesn't allow for it because it's not intelligent design."
A news release Cooper distributed minutes after the vote declared it "a victory for students, academic freedom and common sense."
The 19-member board includes 11 elected representatives and eight appointed by the governor. The seven appointed by Gov. Bob Taft and one by former Gov. George V. Voinovich supported the lesson plan, including Stephen M. Millett of Columbus, who specializes in developing technologies and products for Battelle Memorial Institute. Also voting for the plan was Cochran, a Blacklick lawyer and Franklin County's elected representative on the board.
ccandisky@dispatch.com
CORRECTION-DATE: March 11, 2004
CORRECTION: A lesson plan for 10th-grade science classes, approved by the State Board of Education, includes language allowing for "a critical analysis of evolution," but not calling for the inclusion of creationism. Because of an editing error, a headline on Page A1 of yesterday's Dispatch misstated the case.
File Date: 3.10.04
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