Evolution debate gets personal in Kansas

updated 8:44 p.m. ET June 15, 2005

TOPEKA, Kan. - A discussion about how evolution should be taught in Kansas' public schools degenerated Wednesday into personal attacks among State Board of Education members.

The board reviewed proposed standards drafted by three conservative members, designed to expose students to more criticism of evolution in the classroom.

The standards, which determine how students in fourth, seventh and 10th grades are tested on science, currently describe evolution as a key concept for students to learn before graduating from high school, treating it as the best explanation for how life developed and changed over time.

The three members who drafted the latest proposal are among six conservatives who control the board — and likely to approve much if not all of it. Four moderates, who favor retaining the standards' evolution-friendly tone, assailed the proposal.

Board member Bill Wagnon, of Topeka, told the three conservatives they had become "dupes" of intelligent design advocates and said their proposal was based "on absolute and total fraud."

Board member Sue Gamble, of Shawnee, said while board members should review proposed standards, they shouldn't write their own language, as the three conservatives did. She said the writing should be left to scientists and science teachers.

Board Chairman Steve Abrams, one of the three conservatives who drafted the latest proposal, said he had studied "a huge amount" of science, including in postgraduate classes. He is an Arkansas City veterinarian.

But Gamble replied: "I question your qualifications."

Helping Abrams draft the latest proposal were board members Kathy Martin, of Clay Center, and Connie Morris, of St. Francis. Morris chastised the board's four moderates for not attending the public hearings in May.

During the hearings, witnesses criticized evolutionary theory that natural chemical processes may have created the first building blocks of life, that all life has descended from a common origin and that man and apes share a common ancestor.

"Had you attended, you would have been informed," Morris said. "You would be sitting here as informed individuals and not arrogantly calling us dupes."

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