Ohio State Board Removes Language In Standards Questioning
Evolution In the second major blow in as many months to the
forces seeking to subject evolution to greater skepticism and
scrutiny in science classrooms, the Ohio state board of
education has voted to strip language from its academic
standards that encourages students to "critically analyze" the
established biological theory. The board decided in an 11-4 vote
on Feb. 14 to revise Ohio's academic content standards to delete
that wording, which was the subject of heated debate when it was
added to the influential document in 2002. "This was a win for
science, a win for students, and a win for the state of Ohio,"
said board member Martha W. Wise, who led the campaign to remove
the language critical of evolution. |(Requires Macromedia Flash
Player.) | As part of the same action, the board chose to do
away with a state-approved lesson plan for teachers that critics
said falsely suggested that mainstream scientists harbored
doubts about the theory of evolut