[JURIST] A California school district has agreed to stop teaching a philosophy class [AU press release] discussing intelligent design theory [Natural History backgrounder; JURIST news archive] as part of a settlement agreement filed Tuesday, according to the legal director for the Americans United for Separation of Church and State [advocacy website]. A group of parents sued the school district [JURIST report] last week arguing the "Philosophy of Design" course violated the separation between church and state, and a federal judge had originally scheduled a hearing for Tuesday afternoon to determine whether the El Tejon Unified School District [official website] should discontinue the course. Americans United had a prior victory in December when it, along with other advocacy groups, obtained a federal court ruling [PDF text; JURIST report] ordering schools in Dover, PA to stop teaching intelligent design as part of high school biology classes. AP has more.