The Ohio Board of Education voted 11–4 on Feb. 14 to eliminate a science lesson that encourages students to seek evidence for and against evolution. Critics had called the material an opening to teach intelligent design (ID), which holds that life is so complex it must have been created by a higher authority.
The lesson, originally adopted in 2002, said students should be able to “describe how scientists continue to investigate and critically analyze aspects of evolutionary theory.” The standards included a disclaimer that they do not require the teaching of ID. The board vote represents the latest setback for the ID movement.
In December 2005, a federal judge barred the school system in Dover, Pa., from teaching ID alongside evolution in high school biology classes. The judge said that ID is religion masquerading as science and that teaching it alongside evolution violates the separation of church and state. (EP)
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