Kansas Citizens for Science

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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." KCFS has been active in both local and national evolution-advocacy efforts and served as the prototype for other Citizens for Science organizations.

[edit] Formation and Kansas' First Flirtations with Creationism

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. They actively recruited participants from across the state and led the fight to correct the standards the creationists had passed. They formed relationships with educational and scientific organizations both across Kansas and throughout the US. At the next election, Kansas voters replaced the creationists with a pro-science majority and within a few months, the standards recommended by the expert committee were passed, replacing the creationist standards that de-emphasized evolution.