Friday, June 14, 2013

Kansas introduces modern science standards

The educational system in Kansas, USA, is getting a well-needed update. As of June 11, the Kansas State Board of Education voted 8-2 to approve of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which treats both evolution and climate change as ...scientific fact.

As would be expected, this move was met with hostility from religious Conservatives, who continue to openly and shamelessly deny science. A member of the KSBE, Ken Willard, wrote in the Lawrence Journal - World, that "both evolution and human-caused climate change are presented in these standards dogmatically," and that the standards amount to "little more than indoctrination in political correctness." Willard, along with John Bacon, were the two lone souls who voted against implementation of the NGSS.

Science educators, on the other hand, were thrilled. Julie Thwarting, a biology teacher and president of the Kansas Association of Biology Teachers, was quoted as saying, "When I first read the NGSS, I was very excited to see it was just a clear description of what I've been striving toward for the past 10 years..."

This is wonderful move for Kansas, following in the steps of Rhode Island, and away from the dingy darkness that is Louisiana's LSEA.

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