I've posted a patch to have text_area_tag('item[description]') generate HTML with a valid id attribute. I'd appreciate it if someone could check it out and apply it.
http://rails.lighthouseapp.com/projects/8994/tickets/1703-text_area_tag-invalid-id#ticket-1703-1
Without the patch, rails generates an id attribute that doesn't follow the normal Rails convention, and fails HTML validation. Test included.
Thanks! Steve