The Kansas Board of Education is again preparing to take up the issue of evolution and what to teach public school students about the origins of life.
After victory at the polls in November, a moderate majority on the 10-member board in the central US state plans to overturn science standards seen as critical of evolution at a board meeting today in Topeka.
New standards would replace those put in place in 2005 by a conservative board majority that challenged the validity of evolution and cited it as incompatible with religious doctrine.
The 2005 action outraged scientists across the United States, with the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Teachers Association refusing a request by Kansas to use copyrighted material in textbooks.
Voters in last year's elections then swayed the balance of power on the board to moderates.
The move today to rewrite the science standards would come a day after the birthday of evolution scholar Charles Darwin, who gained fame in 1859 for his book " The Origin of Species".
Some religious groups argue that evolution cannot be proven and is not in accordance with Biblical teachings regarding the origins of life. Teaching evolution misleads and confuses students, opponents say.
But supporters say religion has no valid role in a science class and that evolution is the foundation for understanding key concepts in biology and other scientific fields.