The science education pendulum has swung once again in Kansas schools.

On Tuesday, the Kansas State Board of Education adopted science standards that will once again call for teaching evolution in the state’s classrooms. In so doing, they once again have rejected standards that de-emphasized evolution and called for the teaching of alternative theories, such as intelligent design.

For many reasons, Kansans should hope Tuesday’s vote will end this controversy for years to come. The state has had five sets of science standards in eight years as the majority on the state board shifted back and forth between those who supported and those who opposed the teaching of evolution.

The battle over evolution has brought unflattering attention to the state and been a disservice to the state’s students. It’s difficult for school districts to have much respect for a state board that is willing to engage in such antics over a major curriculum issue. In many cases, local districts simply continued their existing science curriculum, essentially ignoring the edicts of the conflicted state board.

Evolution has been the Kansas issue that has grabbed headlines across the country, but perhaps the greater issue for the state school board is to restore a more stable and professional atmosphere to the Kansas Department of Education. The anti-evolution science standards were just one of a number of controversial stands taken by the last board.

Key among those was the hiring of an education commissioner with no experience in education administration. Bob Corkins resigned as commissioner after the November elections, and board members hope to hire a replacement by April. They have contracted with the National Association of State Boards of Education to help them conduct a national search for a commissioner. The board has no more important job than presiding over a professional, responsible search and hiring the best qualified person to serve as the state’s new commissioner of education.

If all goes well, it’s likely the state board of education largely will drop out of the headlines in the months to come, and that’s just fine. The controversy that marked the last board’s term does little to further the educational interests of the state’s children – and that should be the state board’s one and only goal.