The theory, which rejects the theory of evolution, is promoted by religious and conservative groups. According to the decision, science will not necessarily be defined by natural explanations * One of the opponents of the decision: We are making fun of ourselves all over the world
Avi Blizovsky
The Kansas State Board of Education voted last Tuesday that students will be exposed to the study of theories that contradict the modern theory of evolution, a step that calls for dismay in the scientific establishment, also due to the fact that it was passed by the voices of religious conservatives and others who challenge the theory of evolution not for a factual scientific reason but for their beliefs.
The decision was passed by a vote of 6 to 4, when the supporters of the proposal cheered and said that it was a holiday for freedom of expression, while the opponents defined the decision as poor politics and bad science. According to the decision, students should hear from their teachers that the most accepted point of view in science is a controversial theory. Among other things, due to the fact that it "lacks a natural explanation for the genetic code."
This bitter battle brought Kansas to the forefront of the war on evolution taking place in courts in Pennsylvania and Georgia and in state legislatures across the US. President Bush expressed his position last summer which of course supported the position of the conservatives when he announced that it was necessary to teach "both sides".
"This is a big day for education. This is one of the best things we can do. It certainly teaches more about science," said Steve Abmes, chairman of the Kansas Board of Education who also heads the Republican-conservative majority that includes 26 members of the science committee that rejected the demand of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Teachers Association.
Opposition members of the Board of Education accused Abrams and his colleagues of hiding behind the fiction of scientific inquiry while in fact infusing religion into science lessons. They say that the decision is bad for education, bad for business and bad for the image of the damaged country in the worst way. "It's a sad day not only for the children of Kansas," said Janet Waugh, who voted against the decision. "We make ourselves laugh, not only in front of the whole nation but in front of the whole world."
The Board of Education does not have a mandate regarding the teaching content in the public schools, and this is a decision that remains in the hands of the school boards, but the standards determine what will be considered correct in the general state exams, and therefore the board actually determines what the students will learn.
In Kansas they will study the theory of creation
Walla News adds that the divided education committee of the state of Kansas voted Tuesday by a majority of six to four in favor of the proposal to apply in schools new standards in the field of science education, which are called a far-reaching challenge to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The new standards go further than the broad mandate adopted in recent years by four other states in the US, which allows educational institutions in those states to teach a critical approach to the theory of evolution. In fact, what has now been accepted in Kansas is a recommendation to teach certain subjects in the schools, which are used by those who want to tattoo the supremacy of Darwin's theory.
Among the more controversial changes decided by the Education Committee is the redefining of science itself, so that it will no longer be explicitly limited to only natural explanations.
The results of the vote are a significant victory for a growing movement in the US of those who support the idea of "intelligent design", according to which nature alone is not enough to provide an explanation for the complexity of life.
John West of the Discovery Institute, a conservative think tank that promotes the idea of intelligent design, said that Kansas now has "the best benchmarks in science." On the other hand, Eugenie Scott, from the National Center for Science Studies and one of the most prominent defenders of the theory of evolution, said that she fears that these standards will become "a guide to creationism."
Adoption of the ideas of intelligent planning
The Education Committee vote came six years after Kansas shocked the scientific and political worlds by removing almost all mention of the theory of evolution from school curricula, a move reversed in 2001 after voters voted to oust several conservative members of the Education Committee.
But in 2004, a conservative majority was formed again in the committee, which immediately renewed the discussions on the issue of studying the theory of evolution.
Among the scientists who belong to the mainstream of science there is no debate about the position of the theory of evolution as a cornerstone of biology. But in recent years a group of academics who support the idea of intelligent design work to promote the new criticisms of Darwin's theory.
The district boards of education in Kansas, as in most US states, are the ones who choose textbooks and outline curricula. However, the standards established by the Central Education Committee are the basis for the material that will be included in the science exams held by the state once every two years - for 2007th, XNUMXth and XNUMXth grade students. The new standards adopted now will enter into force in XNUMX. This is on the assumption that the elections for the Kansas Education Committee next year will not once again change the balance in the committee, the results of which will be another change.
Although the new standards do not explicitly require schools to hold a discussion on the subject of intelligent design, they do adopt many of the movement's ideas, noting that issues such as gaps in the study of fossils and a lack of evidence regarding the "primeval state" are things that the students are supposed to take into account.
In contrast, the other states that call for critical analysis of the theory of evolution - Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Pennsylvania - do so generally, sometimes as part of a standard scientific process.
On the other hand, in Pennsylvania the decision was overturned
All eight candidates who ran for re-election to a district board of education in Pennsylvania, and who last year passed a resolution requiring schools to present to students the idea of intelligent design as an alternative to the theory of evolution, were removed from their positions on Tuesday. In their place, eight candidates who oppose the policy of teaching intelligent planning were elected. Last week, a hearing on the issue in a federal court also ended.
In October 2004, the district education committee decided that at the beginning of the school year, a short announcement would be played in the ears of XNUMXth grade students in biology classes, according to which there are "gaps" in the theory of evolution, that intelligent design is an alternative to Darwin's theory, and that the students would be able to learn more about it by reading the book "On Panda Bears and Humans" ”, which can be found in school libraries.
Advertisement Following this, 11 parents decided to file a lawsuit demanding that the committee's decision be annulled, claiming that "intelligent planning is nothing more than religious creationism in a new wrapper, and that the members of the committee are trying to impose their religious views on the students." Last Friday, the hearing of the lawsuit ended in a federal court, and the verdict is expected to be published in early January.
The results of the elections to the education committee will not change the facts according to which the judge is supposed to make his decision, but if the idea of intelligent planning is also defeated in court, then the new education committee will be able to refuse to file an appeal. She will also be able to overturn the decision of the previous committee members, a step she will likely take soon.
For the full article on the Washington Post website
Darwin also knew the center of the war in the intelligent design
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~315622885~~~89&SiteName=hayadan
