HARRISBURG, Pa. — High school students heard about "intelligent design" for the first time yesterday in a school district that attracted national attention by requiring students to be made aware of the concept as an alternative to the theory of evolution.
Administrators in the Dover Area School District read a statement to three biology classes yesterday and were expected to read it to other classes today, according to a statement from the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., on behalf of the school district.
The district is believed to be the only one in the nation to require students to hear about intelligent design — a concept that holds that the universe is so complex, it had to be created by an unspecified guiding force.
"The revolution in evolution has begun," said Richard Thompson, the law center's president and chief counsel. "This is the first step in which students will be given an honest scientific evaluation of the theory of evolution and its problems."
The law center is defending the district against a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of eight families by two civil liberties groups which allege that intelligent design is merely a secular variation of creationism, the biblical-based view that regards God as the creator of life. They maintain that the Dover district's curriculum mandate may violate the constitutional separation of church and state.
"Students who sat in the classroom were taught material which is religious in content, not scientific, and I think it's unfortunate that has occurred," said Eric Rothschild, a Philadelphia attorney representing the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit.
Biology teacher Jennifer Miller said although she was able to make a smooth transition to her evolution lesson after the statement was read, some students were upset that administrators would not entertain any questions about intelligent design.
"They were told that if you have any questions, to take it home," Miller said.
The district allowed students whose parents objected to the policy to be excused from hearing the statement at the beginning of class and science teachers who opposed the requirement to be exempted from reading the statement.
About 15 of 170 ninth-graders have asked to be excused from hearing the statement, Thompson said.
The curriculum language originally approved by the school board in October said students must be "made aware of gaps/problems in Darwin's theory and other theories of evolution, including but not limited to intelligent design."
Seven science teachers, including three biology teachers, wrote a letter earlier this month saying that reading the statement would violate Pennsylvania's professional standards and practices code. All three biology teachers chose not to read the statement, Miller said.
"The standards say that teachers cannot knowingly provide false information to students. We felt that giving the statement about intelligent design legitimized it as a scientific theory," Miller said.
Only one of the lawsuit's plaintiffs, Tammy Kitzmiller, is the parent of a ninth-grade student who would be affected by the policy. She declined through Rothschild to comment yesterday.
On Jan. 17, the Rutherford Institute, a Virginia-based civil liberties organization that often advocates on behalf of individuals in religious free-expression cases, filed court papers seeking to intervene on behalf of three families who support the intelligent-design mandate.
One of the parents, James Cashman, says he sees the debate as an educational issue, not a religious one. Cashman is the parent of a seventh-grader and an eighth-grader who may be exposed to intelligent design in the future.
"I knew that evolution was never proven, so it becomes an issue of two theories which can co-exist," Cashman said. "I want my kids to be stimulated in school. I want them to have a real good education that's not censored."
A federal judge has scheduled a trial for Sept. 26.
The case represents the newest chapter in a history of evolution litigation dating back to the Scopes Monkey Trial in Tennessee nearly 80 years ago. In Georgia, a suburban Atlanta school district plans to challenge a federal judge's order to remove stickers in science textbooks that call evolution "a theory, not a fact."
Text of Dover schools' statement
"The Pennsylvania Academic Standards require students to learn about Darwin's theory of evolution and eventually to take a standardized test of which evolution is a part.
"Because Darwin's theory is a theory, it continues to be tested as new evidence is discovered. The theory is not a fact. Gaps in the theory exist for which there is no evidence. A theory is defined as a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations.
"Intelligent design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin's view. The reference book, Of Pandas and People, is available for students who might be interested in gaining an understanding of what intelligent design actually involves.
"With respect to any theory, students are encouraged to keep an open mind. The school leaves the discussion of the origins of life to individual students and their families. As a standards-driven district, class instruction focuses upon preparing students to achieve proficiency on standards-based assessments."