About Us | Press Releases | 2006 | September 25

BIO IT COALITION PANEL TO ADDRESS WHY TEACHING INTELLIGENT DESIGN AS SCIENCE WILL PREVENT THE U.S. FROM MAINTAINING LEADERSHIP IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:  AN EFFECTIVE WORKFORCE WILL REQUIRE HIGH QUALITY MATH AND SCIENCE EDUCATION

Will the U.S. continue to be at the head of the class in creating an educated workforce and in developing science related products for the world to use in the coming years?  As the nation's economic growth and national security depend increasingly on the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce, the United States must make a renewed commitment to high quality math and science education.

Attorneys Stephen Harvey and Eric Rothschild of Pepper Hamilton LLP will be joined by Toby Horn, Ph.D., President, 2006, National Association of Biology Teachers at a September 27, 2006 luncheon meeting of the BIO IT Coalition to discuss the future of U.S. science classes, science jobs and the continued ability of the U.S to compete globally with a strong, technologically literate workforce. 

The attorneys will describe the December 2005 Kitzmiller versus Dover Area School District case, for which Pepper Hamilton, under their direction, acted as lead counsel.  The legal services were provided pro bono for 8 families who challenged a Dover, Pa. policy that included intelligent design in the high school science curriculum.  This landmark "intelligent design" case is widely regarded as the first legal test of the constitutionality of teaching the concept of intelligent design as science.  It was the most significant case about teaching religious issues in public school science classes since 1987, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled definitively that the teaching of "creation science" violates the First Amendment.  In December of 2005, Federal District Judge John E. Jones, III, of Pennsylvania, found that intelligent design is a religious, non-scientific proposition, and that teaching intelligent design in public schools violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

This meeting is sponsored by Pepper Hamilton and the BIO IT Coalition.  It will take place on September 27, at the DC office of Pepper Hamilton LLP at 600 14th Street NW, Washington, DC.  Registration Fee: Non-members: $25.00, students: $10.00, members free.  For more information, call Judi Gianini at 202-220-1242 or go to www.bioitcoalition.org/events.html to register.