The decision to mandate the teaching of id in the classroom was reached in October 2004, mid-year.
The lawsuit to stop the mandate was filed in December 2004.
The idea was to stop them from formulating the curriculum for the next school year.
The Dover School Board made a run at introducing religion into the classroom, split words if you want, but that's exactly whet they did. They mandated that teachers discuss science vs. religion in a public classroom...that's wrong on so many levels.
If you want your children to learn about religion as an alternative to science, send them to a religious school.
The people who voted the school board into office booted them out as a result of their decision.
The people of Dover spoke, the Courts upheld their decision...end of story.
I can't think of a more perfect example of the system working.
One last question.
Did the Dover School Board also mandate parochial schools to make their students aware of the gaps and problems involved in the theory of creation?
They didn't.
Why didn't they?
Its a perfect example of the system over working.
The federal courts were not needed here. The audacity of the separation metaphor is now apparent in your analysis.
Not only must the public schools be free of anything that someone thinks they can trace back to Christian convictions, but now private parochial schools must be confronted by the 'superior' viewpoints of the evolutionists. The free exercise of religion is absolutely gutted for private parochial schools without so much as a pause.
I hope science recovers from this near death blow in Dover.
OTOH, If a parent objects to religion being taught in school, they always have the option to homeschool or find a private school that does not teach religion in their classrooms. The options that are constantly being thrown in the faces of creationists or Christians who object to the way public schools are run are equally available to atheists or evolutionists. If they don't like it, they are free to leave also.