Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Dover: First Day Action
"Eric Rothschild, attorney for the 11 parents suing the school district over the inclusion of intelligent design in biology class, told U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III of the numerous instances of school board members speaking of finding a biology textbook that balanced evolution with creationism and included television news clips of former school board member Bill Buckingham speaking on the issue," reports The York Daily Record.
"But Dover’s attorney, Patrick Gillen, in his opening remarks, tried to distance Buckingham’s role from the decision of the school board. He said the efforts that led to what he called “modest change” in the biology curriculum had been a contentious issue, but the board was not led by Buckingham in the final decision."
Despite what Gillen says, Buckingham was the head of the school board's curriculum committee and the driving force behind the decision to order teachers to read a statement designed to create doubt about evolution and provide support for intelligent design in Dover science classes.
"But Dover’s attorney, Patrick Gillen, in his opening remarks, tried to distance Buckingham’s role from the decision of the school board. He said the efforts that led to what he called “modest change” in the biology curriculum had been a contentious issue, but the board was not led by Buckingham in the final decision."
Despite what Gillen says, Buckingham was the head of the school board's curriculum committee and the driving force behind the decision to order teachers to read a statement designed to create doubt about evolution and provide support for intelligent design in Dover science classes.
