Friday, April 22, 2005
Ohio Board Stonewalls
Last year, the Ohio Board of Education voted to approve a lesson plan for 10th-grade science classes called “Critical Analysis of Evolution” designed to teach students about what the board majority thinks are flaws in the theory of evolution.
One year ago, Ohio Citizens for Science, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State requested all documents related to the adoption of the lesson plan, including the peer-reviewed scientific articles supporting intelligent design that a DOE official claimed to have before the vote.
In January of this year, a handful of documents were turned over, but few pertaining to the decision.
Today, more than a year after the board vote to inject pseudoscience in the Ohio public school curriculum, the board still has not provided the materials requested in the filing.
Alex Luchenitser, an attorney for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, says the DOE has not refused to turn anything over, nor explained the delay. Suing for access is a possibility, he says, but there are no plans for legal action at the moment.
Lynn Elfner, CEO of the Ohio Academy of Science, has requested to see drafts of the plans to be used to train 7th-to-10th-grade science teachers at Miami University this summer. His request has been denied. The board hasn't told him why, but he suspects it may have something to do with intelligent design.
One year ago, Ohio Citizens for Science, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State requested all documents related to the adoption of the lesson plan, including the peer-reviewed scientific articles supporting intelligent design that a DOE official claimed to have before the vote.
In January of this year, a handful of documents were turned over, but few pertaining to the decision.
Today, more than a year after the board vote to inject pseudoscience in the Ohio public school curriculum, the board still has not provided the materials requested in the filing.
Alex Luchenitser, an attorney for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, says the DOE has not refused to turn anything over, nor explained the delay. Suing for access is a possibility, he says, but there are no plans for legal action at the moment.
Lynn Elfner, CEO of the Ohio Academy of Science, has requested to see drafts of the plans to be used to train 7th-to-10th-grade science teachers at Miami University this summer. His request has been denied. The board hasn't told him why, but he suspects it may have something to do with intelligent design.
