Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Jack Krebs on Kansas Science Standards
Here are KCFS President Jack Krebs remarks to the Kansas school board before it voted on the standards yesterday:
Good morning. I’m Jack Krebs, president of Kansas Citizens for Science. I’m also a member of the writing committee that wrote the standards that you are going to consider for adoption this afternoon.
There are two main reasons why you should accept those standards. First, those standards represent the mainstream scientific consensus about what science is and about what evolution is, and the current standards do not.
Second, the committee's standards have been developed according to the proper process, and the current standards were not.
Adopting the committee's standards now is simply finishing that proper process – one that was short-circuited well over a year ago. Those standards represent mainstream science, and that is what our children should be being taught.
Now on a little bit more personal note …Mr. Calvert, in a press release, has written that the committee’s standards "will cause Kansas Public Education to indoctrinate young children in Materialism, the philosophy that dominates Russian culture."
Now as a member of that committee of 25 people, I can say frankly that this is insulting. I can assure you that the committee members wholeheartedly support American values, and support a wide range of religious beliefs. I am sure that the majority of the committee members are Christians.
For us to be being told that the science standards that are being brought to you actually teach children materialism, atheism, and a purposeless life is really an insult to those committee members.
We know the difference between science and religious belief. It doesn’t appear that Mr. Calvert does.
Good morning. I’m Jack Krebs, president of Kansas Citizens for Science. I’m also a member of the writing committee that wrote the standards that you are going to consider for adoption this afternoon.
There are two main reasons why you should accept those standards. First, those standards represent the mainstream scientific consensus about what science is and about what evolution is, and the current standards do not.
Second, the committee's standards have been developed according to the proper process, and the current standards were not.
Adopting the committee's standards now is simply finishing that proper process – one that was short-circuited well over a year ago. Those standards represent mainstream science, and that is what our children should be being taught.
Now on a little bit more personal note …Mr. Calvert, in a press release, has written that the committee’s standards "will cause Kansas Public Education to indoctrinate young children in Materialism, the philosophy that dominates Russian culture."
Now as a member of that committee of 25 people, I can say frankly that this is insulting. I can assure you that the committee members wholeheartedly support American values, and support a wide range of religious beliefs. I am sure that the majority of the committee members are Christians.
For us to be being told that the science standards that are being brought to you actually teach children materialism, atheism, and a purposeless life is really an insult to those committee members.
We know the difference between science and religious belief. It doesn’t appear that Mr. Calvert does.
