Kansas science standards critical of evolution

TOPEKA, Kan. — A sharply divided Kansas State Board of Education voted 6–4 Nov. 8 to adopt new science standards that call for taking a critical view of evolution.

The vote ended an acerbic 10-month debate that pitted advocates of a theory called intelligent design against major science organizations, with the board’s conservative majority leading the push to question the theory of evolution first advanced by Charles Darwin. Under the standards, Kansas students will study not only “the best evidence for modern evolutionary theory” but also “areas where scientists are raising scientific criticisms of that theory.”

While advocates of intelligent design pushed for the changes, “these standards neither mandate nor prohibit teaching about this scientific disagreement,” according to the document. Board Chairman Steve Abrams — a member of First Baptist Church, Arkansas City, Kan. — said he considers evolutionary theory incompatible with the biblical account of creation. Abrams praised the new standards at the Nov. 8 packed meeting. But Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius called the action “just the latest in a series of troubling decisions by the board of education.”