Darwin May Get Reprieve in Kansas Schools

The hotly debated science standards that play down evolution for Kansas public school students are likely to be overturned following the defeat of three conservatives for seats on the State Board of Education.

Two incumbents and another candidate who support the state’s newly adopted science standards were defeated in Republican primaries Tuesday.

The winning moderate Republicans and the Democrats they face in November elections say they want to scrap the new guidelines--which passed last year on a 6-4 vote--when the board starts work in January.

“We expect to have a very busy January,” said Sue Gamble, who defeated incumbent Linda Holloway. “This has been a bone of contention among all of us as we’ve talked over the past several months.”

Steve Abrams, a conservative who helped write the new standards, said he expects the new board to reject them. He said he could not explain why he was the only incumbent to survive the primary.

Critics argued that the board’s decision to play down evolution in science classes harmed students and made the state look backward; proponents said it lets local school districts decide what to teach.

“This is a victory for Kansas children, who should not be deprived of one of the most important cornerstones of modern science,” said Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way.

The theory of evolution, developed by Charles Darwin and others, holds that the Earth is billions of years old and that life forms developed over hundreds of millions of years.

Creationists maintain that evolution cannot be proved and that the Earth and most life forms came into existence suddenly about 6,000 years ago, largely as described in the Bible.