Teachers, Scientists Vow to Fight Challenge to Evolution

Creationists Seek Curriculum Change; Kan. Education Hearings Open Today

By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 5, 2005; Page A03

TOPEKA, Kan., May 4 -- Alarmed by proposals to change how evolution is taught, scientists and teachers are mobilizing to fight back, asserting that educational standards are being threatened by what they consider a stealth campaign to return creationism to public schools.

This week's battle is focused on Kansas, where State Board of Education hearings begin Thursday on evolution and intelligent design, a carefully marketed theory that challenges accepted understandings of Earth's origins in favor of the idea that a creator played a guiding role.