I found out just a little while ago that the Ohio Board of Education did vote on the question of removing the controversial lesson plan that would allow Intelligent Design into Ohio 10th grade classrooms.
A vote was taken and my information has the effort to remove the lesson plan losing by one vote at the meeting held today in Columbus.
According to an e-mail from a board member, the issue wasn’t on the Board’s agenda until the meeting had started. Those who wanted to remove the lesson plan didn’t want to bring to a vote unless they thought they had the votes.
The Board was divided as to whether the Dover decision applied to the lesson plan. No lawyers were consulted except for those on the Board who practice as their full time job and they couldn’t come to a conclusion either.
The vote was 9 to 8 against removing the lesson plan.
The e-mail also stated that Americans United and the ACLU had requested documents on the issue obviously to see if further legal action would be needed.
I guess we might see a court case out of this.
In a breaking news story in the Toledo Blade was this bit:
Supporters of the current language argued that the Dover case differs from Ohio’s lesson plan, which uses the words “intelligent design” once in a parenthetical phrase, noting that the optional lesson plan calling for students to “critically analyze” the theory of evolution does not mandate the teaching or testing of intelligent design.
“If they think we’re wrong, and they feel that strongly, then take us to court…,” said board member Michael Cochran, of Blacklick, Ohio. “I don’t think we’ll be sued. The last thing they want do is to take us to court and have the state win, because they’ll have bad precedent.”
Intelligent design stays in textbooks; lawsuit fear doesn’t sway supporters
Cochran is one of the main people who forced the lesson plan through the OBE.
