Yes, Kansas is back in the news again regarding the nature of science, evolution, and the Kansas State School Board. Elections for half of the seats on the board are next Tuesday. In a New York Times article, Evolution’s Backers in Kansas Start Counterattack, a contentious election is being played out among the 16 candidates for the five seats that are open. Moderate Republicans and Democrats, according to the article are trying to replace more conservative candidates. About a year ago, the conservative majority re-wrote the science standards in one of the broadest challenges to evolutionary theory and how it would be taught in the schools.

I’ve written many pieces on this blog on evolution, and the debates and discussions that have taken place around the country. In the Kansas case, the National Academy of Science, and American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Science Teachers Association took strong stands against the Kansas Board of Education’s re-written curriculum, and in fact refused to allow them to use any documents from these organizations.

It’s well worth looking into. You can see a full line of articles on the evolution debate in the New York Times by clicking on this link.