COLUMBUS — Ohio's science standards should make room for a theory that says life on Earth is too complex to have evolved without at least some guidance from a higher power, advocates told a packed meeting of the Ohio State Board of Education on Monday.

        But critics told the board that there is no scientific validity to such a theory and that it is a masquerade for teaching that God created the world.

        At stake in the debate is whether Ohio schools should teach only the theory of evolution developed by Charles Darwin or whether they should be the first schools in the nation to also teach an alternative theory called “intelligent design.”

        The debate over the standards sparked so much controversy that the school board meeting was moved to Veteran's Memorial Coliseum to accommodate about 1,000 people — students, parents and educators.

        The 19-member board set up a panel discussion to learn about the theory of intelligent design and its support in the scientific community.

        The board is required to approve a set of standards for teaching science to Ohio's 1.8 million public school children by the end of the year. A draft of the new standards discusses only evolution. The current standards do not mention evolution; they use the phrase “change through time.”

        Teachers would not have to follow the new standards. However, 10th-grade students would have to pass a proficiency test before they graduate that includes the science standards.

        Board member Virgil Brown seized on the acknowledged flaws in the theory of evolution.

        “Evolution is the prevailing view, but it does not answer all the questions. That doesn't mean intelligent design is the way to do it,” he said.

        Mr. Brown said there may be another option.

        “Teach evolution and present the unanswered questions,” he said.

        The board invited Stephen Meyer and Jonathan Wells, from the Discovery Institute in Seattle, which supports intelligent design as a theory. Lawrence Krauss, chairman of the physics department at Case Western Reserve University, and Kenneth Miller, a biology professor at Brown University, argued against mandating intelligent design being taught.

        Supporters of the theory say opponents are trying keep intelligent design out of the classroom and do not want the two be considered equally.

        “We're not asking their approval, we're challenging them,” Mr. Meyer said.

        At one point, Mr. Meyer offered a compromise: forget adding intelligent design to the standards but require that the pros and cons of evolution be taught.

        Opponents argue intelligent design has not undergone the usual rigorous scientific standards where theories are tested, published, and critiqued by and supported by respected scientists.

        “It's not science,” Mr. Krauss said. “It hasn't appeared in any journals and it's a waste of our students' time to talk about it.”

        Because intelligent design cannot be tested, Mr. Krauss and Mr. Miller say, most scientists have rejected it.

        Intelligent design supporters say those who believe in the theory have published books and that science cannot tie their hands by trying to test everything. “Science is the systematic search for the best explanation of the natural world, not just the best naturalistic explanation,” Mr. Meyer said.

        During the debate, both sides said holes exist in the theory of evolution.

        “The danger is trying to put God in the gaps,” Mr. Krauss said.

        Intelligent-design advocates say the higher power they believe had a role in the development of life may have been God. They also say it could be extraterrestrials or some other power.

        Two bills have been introduced in the General Assembly that would encourage teaching intelligent design. One would require schools to teach why the origin of life is controversial and explain problems with theories. The other says the General Assembly must approve the science standards before they take effect.

        State board of education president Jennifer Sheets wants state legislators to stay out of the debate.

        “I would suggest it is premature,” she said. “I would encourage the legislature not to jump in.”

        The subject also drew the criticism of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tim Hagan.

        “This is a back-door way to impose a religious view on science and we need to be careful of that,” Mr. Hagan said. He criticized Republican Gov. Bob Taft for staying out of the issue.

        “(Gov. Taft) doesn't have the confidence to stand up to the right wing of his party and say this is religion.”

        Joe Andrews, spokesman for the governor, would say only that Mr. Taft is “watching the discussion with interest.”

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