People who were hoping new state standards on teaching evolution might close the gap between religion and schools may be disappointed.
Rather than curtailing the teaching of evolution or opening the door to more discussion of creationism, this summer's decision by the Kansas State Board of Education may have just the opposite effect.
The board's decision to remove questions about evolution from the state's standard tests left it up to local school boards to decide whether evolution should be taught in their districts. A backlash to the state board's decision, however, may result not only in a renewed commitment to teaching evolution but in renewed efforts to keep religion out of public schools.
Participants in last weekend's meeting of the Kansas Association of Biology Teachers seemed more determined than ever to teach the principles of evolution to their students. A professor of biology education at Emporia State University referred to the need to do "damage control" following the state board action. Other teachers vowed to explicitly teach evolution principles throughout their classes instead of waiting until they reach the textbook chapter about the evolution of humans.
The biology teachers' group also wants to support younger teachers who aren't sure how to respond to the evolution action or who might not know how to work with their local school boards to preserve evolution in the curriculum.
Clearly, these teachers would rather fight for the teaching of evolution than switch to teaching creationism.
Another action taken this week in Augusta isn't directly related to the evolution issue, but it may be part of a backlash to the state board action. The Augusta school board revoked a policy that allowed students to use the school intercom to lead classmates in silent prayer. The prayer policy had been attacked as unconstitutional, and the majority of Augusta school board members apparently believed they could not successfully defend the policy in court.
The prayer issue wasn't directly tied to the evolution decision, but the timing of the action might signal a more general desire to separate religion and schools following the state board's decision.
In numerous other ways, Kansans have expressed their opposition to and embarrassment over the statewide test changes related to evolution. In his fall convocation speech, Kansas University Chancellor Robert Hemenway pledged, in direct response to the state board action, to make KU a national leader in science education. KU's Student Senate also passed a resolution denouncing the state board's action.
Rather than changing the minds of the state's educators and students, the state board of education has captured a rare amount of attention from such groups and increased their determination to defy the board's decision by increasing their emphasis on the teaching of evolution.
Several state legislators already have pledged to take actions ranging from reversing the evolution decision to abolishing the state school board. Regardless of what legislative action is taken in the next session, it's clear the state board's decision isn't getting a warm reception and is unlikely to result in the elimination of evolution from school curriculums any time soon.
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