Topeka ? The State Board of Education is scheduled today to discuss whether it wants another full-scale review of its science testing standards, which could reopen the debate about teaching evolution.

Under state law, the board is supposed to review standards this year for science and history tests, which are given to fourth-, seventh- and 10th-graders in odd-numbered years. Education Commissioner Andy Tompkins has suggested a limited review, arguing his staff already has plenty of work trying to bring the state into compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Last month, the board split 5-5 on how to proceed. The next discussion is scheduled for 3 p.m. today.

Five Republican members embraced the idea of a limited review and also said the board should not put the state through another evolution controversy. In 1999, the board adopted standards that some scientists viewed as an attack on evolution, and Kansas earned international criticism and ridicule.

But the other three Republicans and two Democrats have pushed for a full review of the science standards, arguing the board should not avoid its normal procedure.

“I don’t think we can be held hostage to those kinds of political pressures,” board member Bill Wagnon, D-Topeka, said Monday.

Tompkins said having a limited review would put off a full rewriting of the science standards by only a year.

He said with a limited review, a committee would review the science tests and do “a lot of cleanup” in materials for teachers, without discussing the standards for testing themselves.