Ohio may become the next venue for the battle over the teaching of Intelligent Design in the public schools. (See prior posting.) Yesterday's Ohio State Lantern reported that Americans United for Separation of Church and State is collecting documents from the state under a public records request in anticipation of filing a lawsuit against Ohio's Model Lesson Plan on Critical Analysis of Evolution if the state board of education does not change the model curriculum. Meanwhile, the Ohio Board of Education meets today for the first time since the federal court decision striking down Dover, Pennsylvania's policy on Intelligent Design. The Ohio Citizens for Science, along with faculty members from Ohio State University, plan to lobby the board to change the standards, even though the issue is not on the agenda for Tuesday's meeting.
Ohio State University Trustee Brian Hicks lobbied the Ohio Board of Education for the current science curriculum, which encourages the teaching of alternatives to evolution, when he was chief of staff to Governor Bob Taft. However, Ohio State University's Senate, and Faculty Council, as well as the Inter-University Council of Ohio (on which OSU President Karen A. Holbrook sits), have all passed resolutions opposing the state board's science standards and curriculum. Currently trustee Hicks will not answer questions about his position on intelligent design or the state board's science curriculum unless the same questions are presented to every member of the Board of Trustees.
