The debate over evolution and intelligent design will be more than lecture-hall fodder this year in Kansas.

It also is expected to be the defining issue in State Board of Education elections. Four of the six board members who upended the state’s science guidelines to include language critical of evolution face re-election.

“This (election) is not just about education,” said Sue Morgan, a longtime member of the Lawrence school board. “It’s a much bigger issue.”

At stake, Morgan said, is Kansas’ economic development efforts, the push to grow the bioscience industry, universities’ ability to attract top professors, public schools’ efforts to prepare kids for the 21st century, and the very reputation of the state both nationally and internationally.

The state school board seats up this year are held by Janet Waugh, a moderate, and conservatives John Bacon, Connie Morris, Ken Willard, and Iris Van Meter. Only Willard has filed for re-election, so far, but challengers already have emerged in the districts represented by Bacon, Morris, and Van Meter.

“These liberal candidates can run,” said Alan Detrich, an intelligent design proponent who lives in Lawrence and has pledged to run in 2008 when the seat held by Topeka Democrat Bill Wagnon, a moderate, is up. “When people get in that voting booth, they want someone who will stand up for God and country. We’ll see that in this election. I think the spirit of goodness is still in the state of Kansas.”

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A look at how the races are shaping up:

¢In District 1, which covers Jefferson and Leavenworth counties, and parts of Douglas and Wyandotte counties, incumbent Janet Waugh, a moderate, currently faces no opposition. But Waugh, who said she plans to file soon, expects opposition and tough, at times nasty, races across the state.

“I anticipate a last-minute candidate,” she said of her own race. “I think they will wait and file 30 minutes before deadline. …There’s nothing I can do other than try to run a good campaign.”

¢In the race for District 3, which includes parts of Johnson and Franklin counties, three challengers have emerged for Bacon’s seat.

In the Republican primary, Bacon could face Harry McDonald and David Oliphant.

McDonald, former president of Kansas Citizens for Science, was a high school science teacher in Johnson County before retiring and turning to part-time work.

“The simple thing is that I’m disturbed by the direction the state board is taking and, in particular, the direction my local member is taking,” he said.

Oliphant, who works for an architecture firm, has three school-age children and said he wants to see a return of local control.

Political newcomer Don Weiss is running as a Democrat. “I want to restore dignity and respect to the board of education,” he said.

¢In the vast district that includes most of western Kansas, two challengers to Connie Morris have emerged, Sally Cauble, a Republican from Liberal, and Garden City Democrat Tim Cruz.

Cauble is a former elementary school teacher and former local school board member.

“I would like a school board that listens to those school districts that they are passing down their parameters to,” she said.

Cruz, who works as assistant store manager at Sears, has dealt with Morris in the past. Morris once called Cruz an “admitted past illegal immigrant.” Cruz was not, and Morris later apologized.

“I’m not running to kick Connie Morris off the state school board,” Cruz said. “I’m running because I think I can do a better job representing District 5 than she’s doing.”

¢No one has stepped up to challenge Willard in District 7, an area in the central part of the state.

¢In District 9, in the southeast corner of the state, Van Meter could face Kent Runyan, a Democrat and education professor at Pittsburg State University. Runyan said he plans to file soon.

“I think we need to right the ship,” he said.

When contacted, Van Meter would not state her intentions.

“I’m going to let you wait and see,” she said, adding that she’s had a lot of encouragement from others to run again.

Van Meter voiced optimism conservatives would continue to control the board.

“I think the conservatives are going to win big this year,” she said.