The Kansas Board of Education is publishing its new Science Standards, but two leading science organizations, The National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Teachers Association have denied the Board use of any of its copyrighted materials in its Standards. Using the same arguments as are being used in the Dover, PA court case, a conservative Kansas Board of Education has singled out evolution as a theory that needs to be carefully and critically studied. This is a recent strategy–questioning and focusing on one theory—evolution, while ignoring other theories for the same type of “critical look.” That does this mean that other theories like the theory of gravitation or plate tectonics are on firmer ground (pun intended). No. It is because a few ultra-conservative board members are using bullying tactics to force the entire board to accept its notion that evolution runs counter to their religious views about life on Earth. Interestingly the board says “we also emphasize that the Science Curriculum Standards do not include the theory of Intelligent Design. What in the world does this mean. It means they got the terminology into the standards through the back door. The theory of evolution is not flawed, as some of these board members claim and would like citizens to believe. What is the current status of evolution, and “are there significant debates about the evidence for key aspects of chemical and biological evolutionary theory” (statement from the preamble of the Kansas Science Standards). Whether there are debates, why single out evolution? (I think we know the answer!) For an excellent presentation of evolution and the teaching of evolution, go to the “Understanding Evolution” site shown in the image below.