Topeka ? A widely publicized assertion that pornography is on the reading lists of some Kansas public schools has sparked outrage among education groups and leaders.

They say the allegation by State Board of Education Chairman Steve Abrams is not just off the mark but over the top.

“I’d sure like to see what examples of pornography he thinks are being taught. I’d like him to come to Lawrence and show me,” Lawrence schools Supt. Randy Weseman said. “For him to accuse us of promulgating pornography is absurd. It makes you wonder how far (conservatives) would go if we gave them the reins to the stagecoach. That’s just way out there; that’s an outlandish statement for him to make.

“Our curriculum for literature is well defined and aligned with what is appropriate for high school students to be engaged in.”

Abrams also was criticized Tuesday by spokesmen for two Kansas education groups for a statement he made in a column distributed to newspapers and radio and television stations across Kansas, as well as a few national news organizations.

In his column, Abrams, an Arkansas City veterinarian, defended the board’s approval last week of new science standards treating evolution as a flawed theory, generating controversy among scientists who view it as well-established.

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At the end of his column, Abrams cited an ongoing dispute in the Blue Valley school district in Johnson County, where some parents want removed from high school reading lists 14 books containing obscenities, vulgar language or sexually explicit material.

The list includes “Beloved,” by Toni Morrison, “Black Boy,” by Richard Wright and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” by Ken Kesey.

Board vs. schools

Abrams expressed frustration over the reaction to the evolution decision among some educators.

“They seem to indicate, ‘We don’t care what the state board does, and we don’t care what parents want, we are going to continue teaching evolution just as we have been doing.'”

Then, he added: “But I guess we shouldn’t be surprised, because superintendents and local boards of education in some districts continue to promulgate pornography as ‘literature,’ even though many parents have petitioned the local boards to remove the porn.”

Abrams said he mentioned the dispute because he’s concerned whether parents have enough say in how their children are educated by the state’s 300 school districts.

But Mark Tallman, a lobbyist for the Kansas Association of School Boards, and Mark Desetti, a lobbyist for the Kansas-National Education Assn., said Abrams’ remarks suggest he doesn’t support local control of schools or believe local schools are accountable to voters.

“We’ve stepped from a State Board of Education that advocates for public schools and public education to a board that is against public schools,” Desetti said.

Blue Valley books

Abrams didn’t mention Blue Valley by name, but confirmed in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that he was referring to that district. The school boards association says it is unaware of any other ongoing controversies involving reading materials.

In Blue Valley, a parents’ group, Citizens for Literary Standards in Schools, also known as ClassKC, has been circulating petitions for the removal of books they deem objectionable. They argue schools should stick to classics such as “Moby Dick” and “Ivanhoe,” or less graphic modern novels, such as “The Killer Angels,” about the Civil War battle of Gettysburg.

The group has a Web site where it documents obscene or vulgar language and sexually explicit material included in books that students read in high school.

But Supt. Tom Trigg said the Blue Valley district doesn’t force any student to read a book over parental objections.

“We believe as a district that the literature we use in our classroom curriculum is of high quality and prepares our students for collegiate studies,” he said. “There’s no such thing in our curriculum as required reading.”

Trigg said he was disappointed by Abrams’ statement.

And Tallman and Desetti said all Kansas school districts have policies to handle parents’ objections to reading materials.

“‘Pornography’ is just an inflammatory word designed to rile people up,” Desetti said.