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January 6, 2006
Intelligent design sent packing in DoverPennsylvania's Dover Area School District is no longer the sole public school district in the United States to require mention of intelligent design in biology classes after a new school board voted unanimously Tuesday night to rescind the policy, reports the York, Pa. Dispatch.
The move came in response to a federal judge's ruling in a lawsuit brought by 11 parents who said the policy was based on religion, not science. The judge agreed and ordered the district to repeal the policy, which was put into effect by former school board members in 2004.All but one of those school board members—Heather Geesey—have since resigned or been voted off the board.
That paper even has a permanent link on its website front page to its archives of its thorough Intelligent Design coverage.
More legal analysis from the York Daily Record here. The importance of understanding this issue for school boards goes way beyond the annoying and juvenile culture war rhetoric surrounding it. Of that, we have had way too much, from those on all sides here.
To help school board members explore the complexities of this issue, NSBA has scheduled new sessions on intelligent design at its upcoming Annual Conference in Chicago. On Monday, April 10, attorneys from several state school boards associations will be discussing the practical implications of the judge's decision. And at the Council of School Attorneys meeting prior to the Annual Conference, participants will hear a debate between the litigator in the Dover case and the head of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. It's time to register for the nation's largest gathering of public officials, if you haven't done so yet.
Posted January 6, 2006 5:22 PM | Curriculum | Religion
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