Intelligent design movement wins in Kansas

The Kansas state Board of Education adopted new science standards for classrooms that, more than other such measures approved in the US, go further in challenging Darwin’s theory of evolution and redefine the word “science” itself.

Yesterday’s 6-4 vote by the education board was a big win for proponents of “intelligent design” – those who believe the universe is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power.

The new standards cast doubt on Darwinism and defy mainstream views on the mystery of mankind's origins.

The measure’s language redefines “science” so that it’s not limited to the search for natural explanations of phenomena.

But critics say intelligent design is merely creationism – a literal reading of the Bible’s story of creation – camouflaged in scientific language, and it does not belong in a science curriculum.

They worry that the vote will encourage attacks on evolution in other states.

“This action is likely to be the playbook for creationism for the next several years,” said Eugenie Scott, director of the National Centre for Science Education.

“We can predict this fight happening elsewhere.”

The Kansas board’s action is already part of a national debate on teaching evolution.

In Pennsylvania yesterday, voters came down hard on school board members who backed a statement on intelligent design being read in biology class, ousting eight Republicans and replacing them with Democrats who want the concept stripped from the science curriculum.

The election unfolded amid a landmark federal trial involving the Dover public schools and the question of whether intelligent design promotes the Bible’s view of creation. Eight Dover families sued, saying it violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

In August, President George Bush endorsed teaching intelligent design alongside evolution.

The Kansas board’s vote is likely to heap fresh national criticism on the state. In 1999, the board deleted most references to evolution in the science standards. That decision was overturned in 2001.

But supporters of the new regulations say they will lead to open discussions.

“We are being very brave. We are brave enough to have all areas discussed,” said board member Kathy Martin, a Clay Centre Republican. “Students will be informed and not indoctrinated.”

The board does not mandate what will be taught to public school students; that decision is left to local school boards.

However, it does determine what students are expected to know for state assessment tests. The new standards will be in effect starting in 2008.

Some educators fear pressure will increase to teach less about evolution or more about creationism or intelligent design.

“What this does is open the door for teachers to bring creationist arguments into the classroom and point to the standards and say it’s OK,” said Jack Krebs, an Oskaloosa High School maths teacher and vice president of Kansas Citizens for Science, which opposes the changes.

The new standards say high school students must understand major evolutionary concepts. But they also declare that the basic Darwinian theory – that all life had a common origin and that natural chemical processes created the building blocks of life – have been challenged in recent years by fossil evidence and molecular biology.