Science Groups Rebuff Kansas on Evolution

Two science organizations are refusing to allow Kansas education officials to use copyrighted materials in new science standards in a dispute over evolution.

The National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Teachers Association said the proposed new standards will put the students of Kansas at a competitive disadvantage as they take their place in the world, the New York Times reported. The Kansas board of education is expected to put the new standards into effect within the next two weeks, but the decision to refuse permission to use the copyright materials could delay their adoption, the Times reported.

Nevertheless, the newspaper said the delay is unlikely to discourage the board’s conservative majority from requiring that students be taught about challenges to Charles Darwin’s theories on evolution. Ralph J. Cicerone, president of the National Academy, and Michael J. Padilla, president of the teachers’ group, issued a joint statement criticizing the school board.

Kansas students will not be well-prepared for the rigors of higher education or the demands of an increasingly complex and technologically-driven world if their science education is based on these standards, said the statement. Instead, they will put the students of Kansas at a competitive disadvantage as they take their place in the world.