On November 8, 2005, the Kansas Board of Education voted 6-4 to adopt revised science standards that required students to study the theory of intelligent design in addition to evolution. Intelligent design is a scientific theory adopted from creationism that states that life is too complex to have evolved without aid from a higher power. The Board voted to adopt the new educational standards three days after the close of a landmark Pennsylvania case, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, which challenged the teaching of intelligent design in Dover, Pennsylvania. In February 2007, the Kansas School Board also voted 6-4 to reject the 2005 curriculum amendments and return the definition of science to one that excluded intelligent design.

Learn more about Kansas and intelligent design from the JURIST news archive, and read commentary on the issue from JURIST Guest Columnist David DeWolf in Forum.