Mt. Vernon, OH, school levy results

One of the threats made by the fundamentalists both recently and during the 2003 attempt by John Freshwater to inject ID creationist material into the science curriculum is that they will punish the district and the board of education in elections if the board opposes their efforts to corrupt science education. So far that doesn’t seem to be working out real well for them. Yesterday voters in the Mt. Vernon City School District passed a renewal of an operating levy by a 61%-39% margin. Like the Dover, PA, school board elections in 2005, it appears that the ballot box clout of the fundamentalists is a whole lot less powerful than they’d like us to believe. I’m cautious about interpreting that vote simply as a referendum on the board of education or Freshwater, but I know I heard rumblings around the district about it prior to the election. It certainly doesn’t support any claims of general dissatisfaction with the district.

The hearing on Freshwater’s termination resumes tomorrow, with members of the Dennis family being called by Freshwater’s attorney, R. Kelly Hamilton. Recall that Hamilton passed on cross examining Zachary and his mother last fall during the presentation of the Board’s case by David Millstone, the Board’s attorney, knowing he’d call them as hostile witnesses during Freshwater’s presentation.