This coming Tuesday, Feb. 13, the Kansas Board of Education will be voting on whether to adopt new science standards. Last November the board adopted an excellent set of standards which allowed open inquiry about the theory of evolution. These standards do not include the teaching of intelligent design. They merely support the option to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the theory of evolution. You can find more information about the standards at this link.
On that same link there is a petition that is being circulated which states that those signing support the current science standards. *Please sign that petition*.
We already know how the new board members are going to vote. They will be voting to replace the current standards by a 6-4 vote. Due to a very tactical smear campaign by the liberal left along with negative media coverage, we have a liberal majority on the KBOE. Although, it is unclear as to exactly how effective that smear campaign was. At the polls, we had three of the previous conservative board members up for reelection and only one was not voted back to the board. Kansas Citizens for Science (a militant Darwin support group) put the president of their group in the running during the primaries and he lost, so it’s unclear as to how Kansans really feel about the science standards issue.
But, regardless, the majority will no doubt be voting to reject the current standards and implement a set that ~unquestionably~ accepts all aspects of the theory of evolution.
Here's the kicker, though. In the end, I don’t think it matters what they put in those standards. I doubt that there is a teacher in the entire state who is going to change how they teach science regardless of what they put in the standards regarding these issues. I’ve seen media coverage of teachers stating this fact.
Personally, I’d like to applaud the work of our previous board. They brought all kinds of media coverage to this debate, and although much of the coverage was negative due to some of those in the “scientific community”, reasonable folks have looked into these controversial issues further and have learned quite a bit about what is going on at the root of this debate. Now we see the truth about these issues spreading throughout the world! It's not just in Kansas anymore.
But, it can’t hurt to send the board members an email stating that you would like them to vote “No” to adopting new standards.
The following board members voted in an excellent set of standards last November. Please send them an email and let them know how much you appreciate their efforts:
Dr. Steve Abrams, Arkansas City
John Bacon, Olathe
Kenneth Willard, Hutchinson
Kathy Martin, Clay Center
The following board members object to the new standards and would like to see them replaced. Please ask them to reconsider:
Sally Cauble, Liberal (new member)
Jana Shaver, Independence (new member)
Janet Waugh, Kansas City
Sue Gamble, Shawnee
Carol Rupe, Wichita
Dr. Bill Wagnon, Topeka
