Conservative members of the State Board of Education on Tuesday attacked a committee it appointed to revise the state's science education standards and how evolution is taught, saying views about creationism weren't properly considered.
Board member John Bacon, of Olathe, said those who favor teaching creationism as another theory alongside evolution were ignored.
The co-chairman of the 26-member science standards committee, University of Kansas professor Steve Case, said all viewpoints were being considered but that deadlines for producing a first draft dictated that it include only evolution, which the state board has previously OK'd as a part of the science curriculum. Creationism and its related idea, "intelligent design," aren't currently a part of what Kansas students are taught.
Current standards treat evolution as central to the science curriculum - among a few key subjects students must grasp. State law requires regular updating of academic standards, and the board decided to review of science standards starting this year.
The board took no action on the draft Tuesday. It will be discussed at public hearings statewide in January. A second draft is due by mid-February.
Those who favor teaching creationism, which follows the biblical story of how the world was formed - hold five of the 10 seats on the state education board. But in January they become a majority on the 10-member board when Kathy Martin, a retired science teacher from Clay Center, takes office.
That board will receive a second draft of the standards in February and a final draft by summer.
Conservatives contend students should learn about areas of scientific disagreement, including how the Earth was formed and the development of humans.
Committee member William Harris, a University of Missouri-Kansas City research biochemist, said the draft science document denigrates religious beliefs by excluding other schools of thought. He argues the two can be taught in the classroom to give students well-rounded view of science.
"Public education can be kept free of religion by teaching origins of science objectively," Harris said.
Intelligent design is a secular form of creationism that argues that the Earth was created by a series of intelligent happenings, not random chance. Evolution, on the other hand, says that species change in response to environmental and genetic factor of the course of many generations.
Five years ago, a conservative-dominated board brought Kansas international criticism - and some ridicule - by removing most references to evolution from its science standards. Voters later elected new members, and the board approved evolution-friendly standards in 2001.
Kansas isn't alone in the evolution debate.
The Ohio Board of Education narrowly approved a lesson plan in March that some critics contended opens the door to teaching creationism. In Wisconsin, the Grantsburg school board recently voted to allow the teaching of creationism as an alternative theory.
The ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued a Pennsylvania school district that voted in October to require students learn intelligent design as an alternative to evolution. The groups argue the requirement violates the separation of church and state.