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Kansas State Board Votes to Teach Intelligent Design in Schools
By Bloomberg
11/09/05 (Bloomberg) -- The Kansas State Board of Education approved
a proposal to teach intelligent design along with evolution as a
scientific explanation of how life began.
The board voted 6 to 4 in favor of the guidelines, which say schools
should teach that doubt exists about the validity of evolution, a
theory that originated with British biologist Charles Darwin in the
nineteenth century.
The debate about teaching intelligent design, which says life is too
complex to have happened through evolution, has led to a federal
lawsuit in Pennsylvania and the introduction of legislation in
Michigan. President George W. Bush told a group of reporters
visiting the White House on Aug. 1 that the theory should be taught
alongside evolution, according to Knight Ridder.
Board Chairman Steve Abrams and members John Bacon, Kenneth Willard,
Kathy Martin, Connie Morris and Iris Van Meter voted in favor of the
guidelines, said Nicole Corcoran, a spokeswoman for Kansas Governor
Kathleen Sebelius. The issue was raised by these members amid an
effort to overhaul the Kansas school system that began in February
2001.
Janet Waugh, Sue Gamble, Bill Wagnon and Carol Rupe opposed it. The
board members didn't immediately return e-mail requests seeking
comment.
The move drew immediate criticism from Sebelius, a Democrat.
``This is just the latest in a series of troubling decisions by the
Board of Education,'' Sebelius said in a statement e-mailed to
reporters. ``If we're going to continue to bring high-tech jobs to
Kansas and move our state forward, we need to strengthen science
standards, not weaken them.''
Opponents
Opponents of intelligent design, including the National Academy of
Sciences and the National Association of Biology Teachers, say the
theory is an offshoot of the Biblical story of creation in which God
made the world in six days.
The National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Teachers
Association said in a joint declaration on Oct. 27 that the Kansas
board has specifically targeted evolution.
``The use of the word controversial to suggest there are flaws in
evolution is confusing to students and the public and is entirely
misleading,'' they said in a statement. ``While there may be
disagreements among scientists about the exact processes, the theory
of evolution has withstood the test of time and new evidence from
many scientific disciplines only further support this robust
scientific theory.''
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings' office had no
comment on the issue, said spokeswoman Susan Aspey. She said the
board's decision was a local affair and the federal education
department wouldn't get involved.
Setting Standards
The proposal before the Kansas board doesn't aim to promote
intelligent design, according to documents on the education board's
Web site.
``The curriculum standards call for students to learn about the best
evidence for modern evolutionary theory, but also to learn about
areas where scientists are raising scientific criticism of the
theory,'' the proposal said. ``While the testimony presented at the
science hearings included many advocates of Intelligent Design,
these standards neither mandate nor prohibit teaching about this
scientific disagreement.''
Wayne Carley, executive director of the 7,500-teacher National
Association of Biology Teachers in Reston, Virginia, rejects the
Kansas measure.
``They are undermining the education of their students,'' Carley
said in a telephone interview. ``Intelligent design is a version of
creationism and is clearly a religious doctrine and not a scientific
principle, theory or even a hypothesis.''
The fight to inject intelligent design into science curriculum isn't
going to stop in Kansas, said Eugenie Scott, director of the
National Center for Science Education at a press conference today in
Topeka. The conference was sponsored by the Campaign to Defend the
Constitution, which describes itself as a group with 25,000 members
that wants to combat the religious right, spokeswoman Jessica Smith
said.
``This action is likely the playbook of creationism for the next
several years,'' Scott said. ``We predict this fight taking place
not only on the state level but on the local level as well.''
To contact the reporter on this story:
Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net
©2005 Bloomberg L.P.
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