TuesdayâÂÂs election results mark the end of the Kansas State Board of EducationâÂÂs evolution into a less conservative body.

Kansas may not be headed backward on the issue of teaching evolution, but the composition of the next Kansas State Board of Education certainly would indicate that change is in the offing.

Two incumbent board members who were defeated in their respective Republican primaries launched write-in efforts for TuesdayâÂÂs general election but were defeated. John Bacon, Olathe, who supported science standards that de-emphasized the teaching of evolution, won re-election unopposed as did Democrat Janet Waugh of Kansas City. Another Republican, Ken Willard of Nickerson, was elected to an open seat in south-central Kansas.

The net result of the election is a philosophical shift in the board. Unhappy with the board decision to remove evolution questions from the stateâÂÂs standardized tests, Kansans responded two years ago by electing less conservative members to the board. A coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats then held the majority on the board and reversed the evolution decision.

This yearâÂÂs defeat of the two incumbents, Sonny Rundell and Val DeFever, dismantles that coalition. Rundell will be replaced by Connie Morris of St. Francis, a former teacher who gained notoriety during the campaign for her statement that Kansas should stop educating the children of illegal immigrants residing in the state. DeFever was defeated by Iris Van Meter of Thayer, a candidate most people know little about. She is a grandmother and former substitute teacher who was backed by conservative Republican groups, but did almost no campaigning.

Perhaps an activist conservative majority on the state school board is what Kansas voters want. It is not what they wanted two years ago, but it certainly is what they have elected.

What seems more likely to many observers is that Kansas voters simply were lulled into complacency after the election two years ago. The state school board began operating without much controversy and voters assumed the problem no longer demanded their attention. A relatively small turnout of voters in the August primary knocked two incumbents out of the running. The write-in campaigns were a noble effort, but the odds always are against candidates whose names arenâÂÂt listed on the ballot.

ItâÂÂs sometimes said that, for better or worse, voters get the government they deserve. They may not have intended to, but Kansas voters have elected a state board of education that is likely to renew controversial debate over state public school policy. That may be what Kansas voters deserve, but Kansas school children deserve better.