Pennsylvania

Of Pandas is Shelved for Now

Dover Area School Board members said it's premature to discuss whether a controversial textbook that teaches the concept of a divine creator belongs in a district biology class.

William Buckingham, the head of the board's curriculum committee, said last week he planned to introduce the book "Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of Biological Origins" to the district, proposing it as a companion text to the approved biology book.

But at Tuesday night's meeting, board President Alan Bonsell said the issue was not on the agenda and would not be discussed. Later, he said the board is still researching the book and how it might be used in the classroom before bringing it up for public debate.

But Buckingham said just because it wasn't brought up at the board meeting doesn't mean the issue has gone away.

Board members are still "fine tuning" matters, he said, including any potential legal issues that might arise from using "Of Pandas" in the classroom.

"I can't say much right now," Buckingham said during a break in the meeting, but he vowed to revisit the issue in October.

"Of Pandas," by Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon, addresses the concept of "intelligent design," or ID — the idea that life was created by a divine hand and is too complex to be the result of evolutionary chance. Because God is not actually mentioned, the book's proponents say it does not violate the First Amendment's clause prohibiting the establishment of religion.

But many scientists and critics say the book and the ID concept are merely vehicles to get religion in the back door since the U.S. Supreme Court's 1987 ruling prohibiting equal time for the teaching of creationism in public school science class.

Several residents, including retired science teachers, showed up at the meeting to speak out against bringing the book to Dover.

Irene Jurbala-Austin told the board that in her 35 years of teaching biology, she knows of no student who has had a crisis of religious faith from being taught evolutionary theory.

She wondered if the purpose of the book isn't just to reach out to students who might not believe in a higher being.

"That's evangelism," she said, and doesn't belong in science class.

Barrie Callahan, a district resident and former school board member, said the idea of introducing "Of Pandas" to biology class is "just one more embarrassment for Dover."

During the meeting, Callahan questioned Bonsell on whether the board would announce publicly that a vote is planned at least one meeting before it happens, giving the public time to respond.

Both Callahan and Jurbala-Austin are concerned that the board, to avoid controversy, will try to approve adding the book to the district's curriculum behind closed doors.

"Oh, Lord, it's a little too late for that," Bonsell responded. He said the board isn't trying to do anything out of the public eye and pointed out that the issue of creationism has been hotly debated in the district over the past several months.