California parents sue school district over "ID" class

Eleven parents have brought suit against the El Tejon School District in Lebec, California, to stop it from teaching a course which promotes creationism. Attorneys from Americans United for Separation and State (AU) and the law firm Arnold and Porter are representing the plaintiffs.

AU's press release announcing the suit notes that, "On Jan. 1, the board of trustees of El Tejon Unified School District approved an elective called 'Philosophy of Design' that advocates 'intelligent design' and other concepts of creationism."

The press release explains, "While school officials claim the course offers balanced analysis of evolution and intelligent design, evidence demonstrates that the clear purpose of the class is promotion of religion."

A declaration from plaintiff Kenneth Hurst is quoted in which he said the class "undermines the sound scientific principles taught in Frazier Mountain High School’s biology curriculum" and is "an inappropriate attempt to bring religious teachings into the classroom and to evangelize students."

The course description and syllabus and other materials are accessible via NCSE's page for materials relating to the Hurst v. Newman case.

[Edited February 6, 2018, to update the description of the link and the link in the last paragraph.]