Kansas Citizens for Science: Difference between revisions

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Kansas Citizens for Science (KCFS) is a science advocacy organization, incorporated as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3), that "promotes a better understanding of what science is, and does, by: advocating for science education, educating the public about the nature and value of science, and serving as an information resource." Actually, their agenda goes far beyond science education and, as shown by their official discussion board, extends into frequent and irrelevant attacks on religion in all aspects. Many of the board members have recently come out as atheists, although some refuse to discuss their position on this matter.

There support did not help their founder, Harry MacDonald, in his recent bid for a position on the Kansas Board of Education. Apparently he had addressed atheist groups who have tried to argue that science supports their atheism. KCFS has been active in both local and national evolution-advocacy efforts and served as the prototype for other Citizens for Science organizations.

By law, Kansas educational standards must be revised periodically. In 1999, a revision was scheduled for the state science standards and the board chose a committee of approximately 25 expert Kansans, including science educators and businesspeople, to rewrite the standards completely. Creationists began shadowing the hearings of the science committee of the state board, going around the state and objecting to the evolution in the draft science standards. Simultaneously, a more localized Lawrence, Kansas group called POSH (Parents for Objective Science and History) began lobbying the local school board for creationist changes to the Lawrence curriculum.

The reaction to these creationist efforts was varied. One group decided to parody the literalism of POSH and formed FLAT (Families for Learning Accurate Theories). Other efforts included recruiting writers of pro-science letters to the editor, from which a core group of activists was formed. Originally meeting to coordinate testimony before board meetings, KCFS was incorporated on the week prior to the vote over the standards, Sunday, 8 August 1999. Holding a media conference on the steps of the Kansas Museum of Natural History the next day, pledged to combat the anti-science activities of the board.

Two days later, on 11 August 1999, the Kansas State Board of Education voted 6-4 to approve creation science-friendly standards that minimized teaching the theories of evolution, the Big Bang, and geological time. Although they technically did not outlaw the teaching of evolution, they did open the standards to local control, prompting several communities to adopt overtly creationist standards, such as Pratt, Kansas.

Despite the work of the committee, toward the end of the process, the creationists on the state board – who were primarily Young Earth Creationists - attempted to influence the standards. At that point, the board was split 5 to 5 on many issues.

Led by Steve Abrams, who remains a board member today, the creationists secretly collaborated with the Creation Science Association of Mid-America to change the committee's recommendations, removing significant references to evolution and replacing material with creationist perspectives. They were able to convince one state board member to switch sides and vote in favor of the creationist science standards, which were passed quite abruptly and brought much scorn to Kansas.

In the brief run-up to that vote, KCFS was founded.

• Kansas Citizens for Science