Evolution and the
Electorate
EDITORIAL, NYTimes on
the Web, November 10, 2005
Voters in Dover, Pa., came to their
senses this week and tossed out almost the entire school board, which had tried
to discredit the theory of evolution and steer students toward the theory of
"intelligent design" -- the idea that life forms are so complex that a higher
being must have made them. Let's hope the voters in Kansas follow suit
next year by ejecting several benighted members of the State Board of Education,
which has just approved new science standards that open the way for supernatural
explanations of natural phenomena.
The Dover schools are the first in the nation to require that attention be paid
to intelligent design. Administrators read a brief statement to biology
classes asserting that evolution was only a theory, that intelligent design
provided an alternative explanation and that a book on intelligent design was
available in the library. That roundabout effort to undermine the teaching
of evolution has been challenged as unconstitutional in the courts, with a
verdict expected by early January.
Meanwhile, Kansas seems to be veering once again toward supernatural science.
Six years ago, the Kansas State Board of Education gutted its statewide science
standards to eliminate evolution as an explanation for the development of
humanity, and tossed out the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe as
well. That madness was reversed the following year, when voters dumped
three of the conservative board members responsible.
Now the current board has narrowly approved new science standards that leave
evolution in place but add specific criticisms that schools are urged to teach.
Most significant, the definition of science is changed so it is not limited to
natural explanations.
The standards, which define the material to be covered in statewide science
tests, won't take effect until 2007 at the earliest. That leaves time for
the electorate to once again dump the board members responsible for this lunacy.
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