Bob Sigman of the Kansas City Star points out the malaise that seems to be affecting Kansas voters:
When the middle-of-the-roaders are pumped, they control the board. When they are not, people around the world laugh at those zany people in Kansas trying to play like evolution does not exist. Or that abstinence will suffice for sex education.
A good state school board does its work without fuss or fury. These last couple of years have lulled Kansans into complacency about the upcoming state school board elections. As usual, it looks like moderates are being . . . moderate, because we haven't had to suffer recently from a school board preoccupied with monitoring teenage sexual activity or with making sure the rest of the world knows our intelligence hasn't evolved.
We noted this cycle earlier:
Image bycsa
A couple of years ago, the work was fast and furious. Moderates were energized by the blatant stupidity of Connie Morris, Steve Abrams' dogged disregard of KSDE rules for curriculum development, and Kathy Martin's arrogant assumption that she knows science better than the world's scientific community. There were house parties, letters to the editor, fund raising functions and rallies, all designed to combat the Discovery Institute's meddling in our state science curriculum. That work was successful - Morris and Iris VanMeter were replaced with moderates Sally Cauble and Jana Shaver.
Now - not so much.
What will it take to shake Kansans from our apathy and realize that when good men do nothing, evil will triumph?
posted by Cheryl Shepherd-Adams
