At least you're not in Kansas

Earlier this week the Kansas State Board of Education voted 6-4 to require their public school science teachers to spell out specific objections to Darwin's theory of evolution as part of their curriculum. If you have been following this story, you know that this is a win for 'intelligent design' proponents and a big loss for science, at least in Kansas. Intelligent design has absolutely no place in a science classroom, and should be taught in a philosophy class, if anywhere. But I'll leave that topic alone for now.

What I can't get over is this: In addition, 'the Board rewrote the definition of science, so that it is no longer limited to the search for natural explanations of phenomena.' In case you didn't catch that, the Board rewrote the definition of science. The Kansas State Board of Education. Now, if you are bold enough to rewrite the definition of science, then you probably have some impressive credentials in a field of science, right? A Nobel Prize maybe or at least a PhD from a prestigious school? After all, you are rewriting the definition of science.

Well, apparently not. The six people that decided to rewrite the definition of science are: a former teacher who now runs a farming operation, a district manager for an insurance company (he also drives a Dodge Stratus for any SNL fans out there), an accountant who went to Mid- America Nazarene University (where?), a farmer with a degree from Kentucky Mountain Bible College (Iris Van Meter, pictured below), a former teacher who now owns a plumbing business, and a veterinarian. And I'm not making this up. You can read their biographies here:

http://www.ksde.org/commiss/bdaddr.html

As a future father with a kid in the public schools, I'm wandering what the parents in Kansas who opposed this are thinking now. The nationwide attention that this has already received is not exactly helping the reputation of Kansas or the kids that are graduating from their public schools. No doubt they are pretty bummed, as I would be too. According to the board's new definition, science can be anything you want it to be. A teacher can basically teach whatever they want and call it science. As American children are falling behind the rest of the world in science and math skills, is this really what we need?

Quantum physicist Iris Van Meter
wasn't happy with the current
definition of science