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Kansas State Board Approves Teaching Standards Skeptical of Evolution

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by OldManBernie, Nov 8, 2005.

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  1. OldManBernie

    OldManBernie Old Fogey

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    TOPEKA, Kan. — New science standards for Kansas' public schools, criticized for promoting creationism while treating evolution as a flawed theory, won approval Tuesday from the State Board of Education.

    The board's 6-4 vote, expected for months, was a victory for intelligent design advocates who helped draft the standards and argued the changes would make teaching about evolution more balanced and expose studels teach science.

    It's unclear how the new standards will affect what's taught in classrooms. Those decisions will remain with 300 local school boards, and some teachers have said they won't change what they teach. However, some educators fear pressure will increase in some communities to teach less about evolution or more about creationism or intelligent design.

    Supporters see the proposed standards as promoting academic freedom.

    "It gets rid of a lot of dogma that's being taught in the classroom today," said board member John Bacon, an Olathe Republican who supported the board's action.

    The board's vote was along ideological lines.

    Member Janet Waugh, a Kansas City Democrat, said "This is a sad day. We're becoming a laughingstock of not only the nation, but of the world, and I hate that."

    Kansas has attracted international attention, largely because the vote Tuesday was the third time in six years that the board has rewritten standards with evolution as the central issue. Hearings in May, in which intelligent design advocates attacked evolution, attracted journalists from Canada, France, Great Britain and Japan.

    The Kansas board's action is part of an ongoing national debate over evolution. In Pennsylvania, a trial is underway in a lawsuit against the Dover school board's policy of requiring high school students to hear about intelligent design in their biology classes. In August, President Bush endorsed teaching intelligent design alongside evolution.

    The new standards contain an explicit disclaimer saying they're not designed to promote intelligent design, which argues that an intelligent cause is the best way to explain some natural features that are well-ordered and complex.

    However, the standards repeat intelligent design advocates' arguments against evolutionary theory that natural chemical processes could have created the building blocks of life and that all life has a common origin.

    In addition, the board rewrote the standards' definition of science, so that it is no longer limited to the search for natural explanations of phenomena.

    Many scientists argued such changes are designed to allow teachers and students to discuss God in the classroom. Critics contend creationists repackaged old ideas in new, scientific-sounding language to get around a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1987 against teaching creationism in public schools.

    Kansas law requires the state board to update its academic standards regularly. In 1999, the board deleted most references to evolution in the science standards, making the state an object of international ridicule.

    Two years later, after voters replaced three members, the board reverted to evolution-friendly standards. Elections in 2002 and 2004 changed the board's composition again.

    :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

    Glad I don't live in Kansas
     
    #1 OldManBernie, Nov 8, 2005
  2. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Atomic Playboy
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    ~Flying Spaghetti Monster Faints~
     
    #2 KingCheetah, Nov 8, 2005
  3. nyquil82

    nyquil82 Member

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    Well, if people want to be laughed at, as long as they aren't hurting anyone, I don't have any problem with it.
     
    #3 nyquil82, Nov 8, 2005
  4. MartianMan

    MartianMan Member

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    The children hurt. Colleges will look at Kansas' schools and laugh. Who wants someone educated in Kansas?
     
    #4 MartianMan, Nov 8, 2005
  5. wnes

    wnes Contributing Member

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    Southern Methodist University Law School
     
    #5 wnes, Nov 8, 2005
  6. MartianMan

    MartianMan Member

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    touche
     
    #6 MartianMan, Nov 8, 2005
  7. wnes

    wnes Contributing Member

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    How can I forget Bob Jones University
     
    #7 wnes, Nov 8, 2005
  8. nyquil82

    nyquil82 Member

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    doesn't seem to change the status quo. :p

    but if the parents want it, and the legislators they voted for passed it as a law, that is their problem to deal with it. I'm for states rights, and if kansas wants to disavow science and if california wants to smoke pot, i'm all for increasing diversity and discourse in the country, even if IMO I think its r****ded. Just as long as they don't start trying to enslave black people.
     
    #8 nyquil82, Nov 8, 2005
  9. Rule0001

    Rule0001 Contributing Member

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    as he was saying

    who wants someone educated in kansas.
     
    #9 Rule0001, Nov 8, 2005
  10. TMac640

    TMac640 Contributing Member

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    kansas is following the path of the dark side
     
    #10 TMac640, Nov 8, 2005
  11. Sishir Chang

    Sishir Chang Member

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    This is by far the most disturbing part of this policy. If science isn't about the search for natural explanations of phenomena it is no longer science.
     
    #11 Sishir Chang, Nov 8, 2005
  12. mc mark

    mc mark Member

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    Almost makes one ashamed to be born in Topeka.

    "sigh"
     
    #12 mc mark, Nov 8, 2005
  13. Sishir Chang

    Sishir Chang Member

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    I agree its their decision and not being a voter in Kansas I have no say in it. That doesn't mean that I don't think this is a bad decision that could set a bad precedent for other states.
     
    #13 Sishir Chang, Nov 8, 2005
  14. thadeus

    thadeus Member

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    Pretty sad.
     
    #14 thadeus, Nov 8, 2005
  15. MartianMan

    MartianMan Member

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    New bumper sticker:

    "If you can read this, you are not from Kansas"
     
    #15 MartianMan, Nov 8, 2005
  16. No Worries

    No Worries Member

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    #16 No Worries, Nov 9, 2005
  17. bobrek

    bobrek Politics belong in the D & D

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    The story just said that science won't be limited to the search for natural explanations of phenomena.

    I guess an example would be if all medical signs pointed to someone not recovering from an illness and then they do. Under strict interpretations of their prevailing statute, you could not "teach" the reason why the person recovered since there was nothing (according to doctors) natural about their recovery.
     
    #17 bobrek, Nov 9, 2005
  18. Bullard4Life

    Bullard4Life Member

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    Exactly what I was thinking. But, in all honesty, how big of a deal is this really? 99% of the kids being educated in Kansas public schools are never going to use evolution after they hear about it for a week during sophomore biology. Will this really hurt the overall quality of science education? Probably not. Will it set some horrible precedent of using the supernatural to explain all phenomenon? Probably not (I can't really see a high school science teacher telling students that thunder is the angels bowling). It makes Kansas look stupid but it's not like people thought they were a shining beacon of reason to begin with. So, I guess what I'm saying is... eh.
     
    #18 Bullard4Life, Nov 9, 2005
  19. rhadamanthus

    rhadamanthus Member

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    Rationalization means nothing.

    Science communities (including the NSTA) are not even letting themselves be cited in Kansas. It's not science, and lack of endorsement from proper science communities will hose the credibility of students from Kansas.

    I guess god likes em' ignorant.
     
    #19 rhadamanthus, Nov 9, 2005
  20. tolne57

    tolne57 Member

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    In your scenario, what is the reason they recovered?
     
    #20 tolne57, Nov 9, 2005
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