As Ohio's Governor Bob Taft (R) prepares to leave office, he is planning to appoint four new members to the state board of education. In the past few years, the state board of education was frequently embroiled in assaults on evolution education, such as unsuccessful attempts to include "intelligent design" in the state science standards in 2002, the incorporation of a "critical analysis of evolution" indicator in the standards in 2002, the adoption of a "critical analysis of evolution" model lesson plan in 2004, and unsuccessful attempts to revive "critical analysis" after the board voted in 2006 to rescind the lesson plan and indicator.
But the Columbus Dispatch (December 6, 2006) reports that Taft "will not name anyone who doesn't back the teaching of evolution." Taft told the newspaper, "I want people who are really committed to teaching good science in school, and I think that intelligent design does not play a role in the science curriculum." He also expressed regret about previous appointees who supported the teaching of "intelligent design" in Ohio's public schools. Taft's successor, Ted Strickland (D), is expected to support the integrity of science education; during his campaign, he told the Dispatch (July 23, 2006), "Science ought to be taught in our classrooms. Intelligent design should not be taught as science."