intelligent design

Intelligent Design Verdict Will Have Wide Impact on Schools

By Dayna Miles
CBN News Assoc. Producer

CBN.com – (CBN News) - A federal court case is winding down in rural Pennsylvania. At the center of it is the question: Should students be taught about intelligent design in the public schools?

People of Dover -- the town where it all started -- have mixed feelings.

Dover, nestled in the hills of southern Pennsylvania, is like many small American towns. There is one major grocery store and one high school.

But that high school has the town divided over a big controversy -- the decision made by the school board to teach the theory of intelligent design along with evolution.

Intelligent design is the belief that the life and the universe itself are too complex to have evolved by chance, and therefore have to have been guided by something or someone who designed them.

Last year, the Dover School Board voted to direct teachers to read a statement once a year in biology classes. The statement reads, in part:

"Because Darwin's Theory is a theory, it is still being tested as new evidence is discovered. The theory is not a fact. Intelligent design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin's view."

The statement goes on to tell students that if they are interested in intelligent design, the book "Of Pandas and People" is available to help explain it.

Because of this statement, 11 parents from Dover objected and sued the school board. Eventually, the case wound up in the federal court house in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where the trial has been running for five weeks.

At the epicenter of the case are the parents, teachers, and residents of Dover, divided over the board's decision to include intelligent design. CBN News spoke with a number of them.

Joyce Marie Heicher said, "I don't understand what they're fighting about, because is there any other subject that the school deals with that they say we can't teach our children?"

"What's academic freedom?” asked Rosalyn Waltersdorff. “I mean, why would we just give one side of anything in schools? I don't care if it’s science or social issues or anything else. Why would you just present one side? You know if you want children to learn to think, than they should be given an opportunity to hear a variety of opinions and sides on issues."

Vicki Bailey commented, "They should have a broad spectrum on everything. They have sex education and everything else. You know it just makes sense. Those who oppose the board's decision seem most concerned about religion coming through the school doors.”

"It shouldn't be forced upon you. It should be up to the kids or the parents," stated Gretchan Sheffer.

"I don't know a lot about the intelligent design theory,” Teresa Taylor said. “But as a Christian myself, I kind of think that maybe it should be kept out of the schools and let the school be the way that it's always been. And let school be separate from religion."

Gary Sutton, a local radio and TV host and former teacher, says that both sides have an agenda, and Sutton does not agree with either of them.

"I think it's much to-do about nothing, because as teachers, we ought to be able to have enough common sense to say, you know, here are some answers, and some of the answers are going to come in the form of questions,” Sutton said. “To me, learning trumps scientific method, and to put a statement in there right now doesn't threaten anybody."

So as tensions remain high in Dover, elections to put a new school board in place are still weeks away.

And no matter what decision comes down from the Pennsylvania federal court, the Dover school board case is likely to be challenged, perhaps all the way to the Supreme Court, where any decision will have a nationwide impact on what public schoolchildren learn about the origins of mankind and the universe.

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