Dive Brief:
- The Kansas State Board of Education is fighting a lawsuit from a group arguing that the Next Generation Science Standards teach “a non-theistic religious Worldview.”
- The plaintiffs include a group called Citizens for Objective Public Education,and they argue that NGSS teaches evolution and climate change as "key scientific concepts," thereby violating the religious rights of students, parents, and taxpayers who disagree for religious reasons.
- The lawsuit was already dismissed in December, when U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree determined that the groups did not have legal standing. The plaintiffs, however, are now appealing this decision.
Dive Insight:
The NGSS has been tricky to implement in many conservative states. They were banned in Wyoming, though that move that was later repealed, due largely to their perceive potential impact on that state's fossil fuels industry. Additionally, West Virginia unsuccessfully tried to tweak the standards to make climate change a topic with more uncertainty and doubt.
While in this case the state education board is protecting the standards from being manipulated, it is still clear that science education is a contentious topic.