Intelligent design request puts Pratt in evolutionary debate

State biologist urges school board to add theory to teachings.

The Associated Press

PRATT -- Public school students in this small Kansas town are caught in the middle of another twist in the evolution debate.

If state biologist Chris Mammoliti succeeds, public school students will get something new in their curriculum next year -- the theory of intelligent design.

Intelligent design suggests life is too complex to have occurred by chance, so it is more likely the result of an intelligent cause.

Mammoliti, who works for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, asked two Pratt County school boards to add the theory to their science classes as a supplement to Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection.

That is something no other school district in the nation has done, according to the National Center for Science Education.

And Mammoliti's efforts are being taken seriously in this rural southwest Kansas town of 6,300.

Critics accuse Mammoliti of trying to sneak religion into the schoolhouse through the back door -- and they fear he might succeed.

"Pratt could be a toss-up -- the test case," said former state Sen. Fred Kerr, a Pratt farmer who opposes such a curriculum change.

The effort by Mammoliti, who said he represented concerned parents, was made about the same time the Kansas State Board of Education was making national news by de-emphasizing evolution in the state's science standards.

"This has brought more attention to Pratt than anything in its history," said Kerr, who worries that all the publicity is hurting the town's image.

Not all residents see it as a problem.

"I think it's been blown way out of proportion," said Chamber of Commerce president Jerry Bohn, whose wife is a school board member. "I don't see the big deal."

Yet teachers such as Joyce Depenbusch, a math and science teacher in Pratt County's Skyline district, worry the publicity will overshadow all the good education that occurs in a community that prides itself on high-quality schools.

Many have stopped talking to re-porters. Kerr said the issue had strained relationships between neighbors.

A board statement, which lists the steps in arriving at a new science curriculum, says the process normally takes a year. Ken Kennedy, Pratt superintendent, said he expected final board action as early as February.

While the new state science standards affect only what goes on state assessment tests, each district has a curriculum guide that directs what is taught in the classroom. State standards often influence the way district guides are written.

Mammoliti said he wasn't trying to dump Darwin or evolution but also wanted to include the book "Of Pandas and People" in the curriculum guide. While many science textbooks present evolution as fact, the Pandas book, he said, presents another viewpoint -- intelligent design -- and questions some of evolution's assumptions.

Mammoliti, who served on Pratt's science-curriculum review committee, said the book was "pure science" and those who wanted to keep it out of the classroom were using religion as a means of censorship.

"There are people who support the use of this book who have no church affiliation whatsoever," said Ernie Richardson, a Pratt lawyer who accompanied Mammoliti when he made his presentation to the local boards.

Mammoliti and Richardson said they were surprised at the media attention their effort garnered.

Critics and splits have arisen.

The Rev. Larry A. Carver, vicar for Episcopal churches in Pratt and several other towns, said the Pandas theory suggested an "intelligent designer," which would be interpreted by most people as God.

And that, he said, brings religion into science class, a violation of the separation of church and state.

Mammoliti said the Pandas authors didn't reach a conclusion about the designer, because it was impossible to show scientifically who or what it was.

The Pandas book is promoted by those who support creationism. Mammoliti, however, said those who hope his effort would end the teaching of evolution might be disappointed.

The American Civil Liberties Union is watching closely a situation in Burlington, Wash., where a teacher uses the Pandas book in his high school biology class.

"This is a smoke screen for creationists who have lost in the courts," said Doug Honig, the Washington chapter's public education director.

Dick Kurtenbach, executive director of the ACLU's Kansas and Western Missouri chapter, said his office was monitoring the Pratt situation.

He said the ACLU was prepared to move if the Pratt or Skyline districts added intelligent design to the science curriculum.

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