Board of Education Achievement Committee
Once More Defers Action

No Action on Resolution 31 or "Controversial Issues" Template

Resolution 31, passsed by the Ohio Board of Education in February, deleted the model lesson plan "Critical Analysis of Evolution" and deleted parts of the benchmarks and indicators that singled out evolution. The resolution also gave the following charge to the Acievement Committee:

The Achievement Committee of the State Board of Education is charged to consider whether the deleted model lesson, Benchmark H and Indicator 23 should be replaced by a different lesson, benchmark, and indicator, and if so, to present any recommendation to the entire State Board for adoption.

After eight months, the Achievement Committee has failed to comply with this charge. Based on comments made by several board members, a vote on the issue was expected at yesterday's Achievement Committee meeting. None transpired.

(See also the Columbus Dispatch article of October 7 (subscription required), in which it was noted that "Some members privately have discussed calling for a vote...")

The Achievement Committee has been considering a "Controversial Issues" Template, which is widely viewed as an attempt to reintroduce "Critical-Analysis" of evolution into the classroom. (See the OCS Response to the "Controversial Issues" Template.)

Some board members claim that the template has nothing to do with "Critical-Analysis" of evolution. It is curious, then, that the Discovery Institute has chimed in with their support of the document.