The Ohio ACLU yesterday demanded that Toledo Public Schools cease any instruction of intelligent design or creationism.
The request came in response to an article in The Blade Monday in which some public school teachers acknowledged they included creationism or intelligent design when discussing evolution in the classroom.
The letter from Jeffrey Gamso, the legal director of the ACLU of Ohio, states that the teaching of creationism "is unconstitutional, as it violates the First Amendment principle of separation of church and state. We urge you to instruct the teachers of the Toledo Public Schools at once to cease teaching what is nothing but a veiled attempt to introduce religion into the classroom, under the guise of 'scientific theory.'●"
It appears the ACLU will get no fight from the school district.
"We intend to inform our teachers that they need to stick with the state standards," said John Foley, the district's chief of staff.
"We have sanctioned the state standards, which includes evolution as the scientifically proven theory" of how life developed, Mr. Foley said.Superintendent Eugene Sanders was out of town yesterday and could not be reached for comment.
Darlene Fisher, president of the Toledo Board of Education, said the district will send a reminder to those in charge of curriculum that all must adhere to the state standards.
"We've always followed state guidelines," Ms. Fisher said. Teachers who took up creationism arguments in the classroom were acting without school sanction.
But she said that a second notice probably will be circulated to cover the state Board of Education's decision yesterday to drop all mention of alternative theories to evolution from state science standards.
"Once we get the ruling of the new state change, we will send another letter to our teachers and curriculum chairs,'' she said.
Although the ACLU's Mr. Gamso declined to say what the organization would do if the teachers continued to include creationism in their science instruction, his letter to the schools suggested a lawsuit wouldn't be out of the question.
"The ACLU has successfully litigated a number of cases involving violations of the First Amendment by public school administrators, including the Dover School Board case," the letter stated.
The ACLU successfully challenged the Dover, Pa., school board's decision to make intelligent design part of the science curriculum.
Contact Jenni Laidman at:
jenni@theblade.com
or 419-724-6507.
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