Pennsylvania

Dover Ok's Intelligent Design

The Dover Area school board voted last night to make "Intelligent Design Theory" an official part of the district's high school biology curriculum -- a move that prompted two longtime members to resign.

Carol "Casey" Brown, who has served on the board for 10 years, and her husband, Jeff, who has served on the board for five years, quit, saying that they did not agree with the direction of the board and believed it was inviting a lawsuit, a statement echoed by the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

"There seems to be a determination among some board members to have our district serve as an example; to flout the legal rulings of the Supreme Court, to flout the law of the land. They don't seem to care. I think they need to ask the taxpayers if they want to be guinea pigs," Casey Brown said this morning.

She added that the district has already spent more than $930 on legal fees from Stock and Leader since August over the issue of teaching creationism or intelligent design.

"It's a waste of money, how do we answer to the taxpayers? We are committing the district and taxpayers to a no-win fight. I believe if you want to make a change, you go to the legislature," she said.

Vote: The board voted 6-3 last night to add the following wording to the curriculum: "Students will be made aware of gaps/problems in Darwin's Theory of Evolution and of other theories of evolution including, but not limited to, intelligent design. Note: Origins of life will not be taught."

The move came just two weeks after the district announced that 50 copies of the book "Of Pandas and People," which teaches intelligent design, originally published by the Foundation for Thought and Ethics in 1989, would be included in biology classes as a reference text only.

The book states the theory of intelligent design, the idea that some higher being caused life to begin somehow and disputes the science behind Darwin's theory of evolution.

Ongoing debate: "Of Pandas and People" has been part of an ongoing debate in Dover, in which some board members and residents have fought to include intelligent design as part of the biology curriculum as an alternative theory to evolution.

Including the book as a reference text and not a required text was supposed to be a compromise to making Intelligent Design an official part of the district curriculum.

Last night, the administration and teachers offered an alternative curriculum recommendation that did not make specific reference to Intelligent Design, which stated: "Students will be made aware of gaps/problems in Darwin's Theory of Evolution and other theories of evolution," said assistant superintendent William Baksa.

However, the board voted to include Intelligent Design after a heated debate; with William Buckingham, Alan Bonsell, Sheila Harkins, Heather Geesey, Jane Cleaver and Angie Yingling voting in favor of including Intelligent Design in the actual curriculum. Members Casey Brown, Jeff Brown, and Noel Wenrich voted against it.

Casey Brown said that the decision does not reflect the community as a whole and that she is concerned that the district will be sued.

In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the teaching of creationism in public school as a violation of the separation of church and state. And the Pennsylvania Department of Education high school science standards require the teaching of evolution.

Criticism: Robert Boston, a spokesperson for the group Americans United, said he sees no distinction between creationism and intelligent design.

"Intelligent design is just the latest name for creationism and an attempt to secularize creationism," he said.

In response to Americans United, the Thomas More Law Center, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., offered to represent the district without charge if a suit was filed. The center describes itself as "a national public interest law firm with a three-part mission to: defend the religious freedom of Christians; restore time-honored family values; and protect the sanctity of human life."

However, Casey Brown pointed out that the Thomas More Law Center will only defend the district if it is sued in the Supreme Court.

Although superintendent Richard Nilsen would not comment on a possible lawsuit, he said this morning, "No administrator wants to be involved in a costly lawsuit."

Nilsen and Baksa said they were not sure how the new wording would be applied, and that the administration would meet with the high school science department to develop specific language that would be used in each class to introduce the curriculum. Baksa said that "Of Pandas and People" would still be used only as a reference text and added that the teachers would not spend a lot of class time teaching intelligent design, but would only introduce the theory.

Casey and Jeff Brown are resigning just two weeks after the resignation of Noel Wenrich and Jane Cleaver, both of whom left because they are moving out of the district.

"I'm sorry I felt I had to resign and I am sorry to let voters of the district down, but it's not goodbye for good, it's just so long. I can't work within the board anymore," Casey Brown said.