News Release

Dover decision is good for long-term economic and scientific strength

Business Announcement

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

"We are heartened by Judge Jones' decision, which recognizes that Intelligent Design was injected into Dover's 9th grade biology classes for religious reasons rather than scientific reasons. And on behalf of the entire U.S. scientific community, we are grateful for the courage of science teachers and parents in Dover, who worked so hard and took such risks to preserve the integrity of science education in our public schools.

"We'd like to think that all sides would now abide by the judge's decision and unify around the goal of improving science education -- this is crucial in our increasingly competitive world. But at a minimum, we hope this decision will discourage efforts to introduce Intelligent Design into science classes in other communities. We should stick to teaching science in science classes -- that's best for our students, and best for the long-term scientific and economic strength of our nation."

Alan I. Leshner is available for further comment.

For more AAAS resources on evolution and science education, see "Evolution on the Front Line" at http://www.aaas.org/news/press_room/evolution/.

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The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science (www.sciencemag.org). AAAS was founded in 1848, and serves some 10 million individuals through 262 affiliated societies and academies of science. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of 1 million. A non-profit organization, AAAS (www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, www.eurekalert.org, the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS.


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