Education board members lash back at public evolution supporters

(Looks like we have our work cut out for us here in Ohio. eaprez)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — State Board of Education members lashed back at audience members who criticized the state's lesson plan for questioning evolution, reading a personal e-mail from one speaker and reading newspapers as another person spoke, a newspaper reported Friday.

The confrontations during the public comment section of last week's meeting happened after journalists left, said The Columbus Dispatch, which obtained a tape of the meeting.

Gov. Bob Taft's office has received some angry letters, and Taft spokesman Mark Rickel said the governor expects board members to act professionally toward each other and the public. Some board members are appointed by the governor, but the harshest comments came from elected members.

The board by a 9-8 vote on Jan. 10 rejected an attempt to reopen debate on whether the state's lesson plan for science include inaccuracies about evolution and promotes "intelligent design," the idea that life is too complex to have evolved. Member Martha Wise had sought to remove the evolution lesson plan because of a federal court ruling in Pennsylvania rejecting intelligent design as an unscientific form of creationism.

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