The Oklahoma primary is off our hands now, and the next one up is
Kansas, on Tuesday August 1. A week away. There are some contested primaries in races for seats in the state legislature. The Republicans need to pick a challenger to run against Dennis Moore, our potentially vulnerable incumbent in the 3rd Congressional District, and a sacrificial lamb to be pummeled in November by Democratic governor Kathleen Sebelius, whose seat seems to be in no danger despite the redness of this deep red state.
But the really important race in the primary next Tuesday is the campaign to re-establish science over superstition, by defeating a slate of incumbent Creationists on the state School Board. We need to turn them out, like the good people of Dover, Pennsylvania did theirs, earlier this year.
The Kansas State Board of Education is currently dominated by creationists, Intelligent Design fans, religious fundamentalists, and conservatives opposed to sex education in the schools. They set up a new guideline for science instruction that called evolution a `flawed theory.' They set up roadblocks to the teaching of sex education and propose to tighten what they've already done, if re-elected. They already mandate a
nine-week high school class on abstinence. Nine weeks. I confess I would be hard-pressed to talk for nine
minutes on the benefits of abstinence... nine
weeks?
The Panda's Thumb has an excellent post detailing all that's at stake in this election, festooned with useful links for further information. I can't do better than recommend that you read it:
http://www.pandasthumb.org/...
Diane Silver has also posted informatively on this election at Hope and Politics:
http://hopeandpolitics.blogspot.com/...
Davidkc posted here at Daily Kos on this same set of races earlier in the month:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
There are ten seats on the board. Five of the incumbents are up for re-election this term. Four of these are opposed to the teaching of evolution as the accepted scientific model. The fifth, pro-science, incumbent whose term is up in 2006 is fighting for re-election against a fundamentalist challenger in the August 1 primary.
We all habitually decry the Republican extremists' assaults on science. But, as the Panda points out,
science supporters will get up in arms when the fundamentalists implement some policy, and will raise heck for years if necessary until it is pulled -- but then, when the elections come around, the fundamentalists back their candidates with money and votes, and the science folks are nowhere to be seen. Is it any wonder, then, that we have continuing issues with science education and science policy in the U.S.?
As someone once said: "The world is run by people who show up."
Kansas school board elections are not expensive. Only one incumbent and one challenger have cash on hand over $10K. Relatively small contributions could make a huge difference. Blogger Joshua Rosenau at "Thoughts from Kansas" has scouted out the cash on hand figures in these races:
http://jgrr.blogspot.com/
State Board of Education members serve a 4-year term. One could argue that breaking the stranglehold of the reactionaries on the School Board is even more important than the Kansas congressional races (at least, in the 2006 cycle), because the winners stay in power longer and the congressional incumbents are basically pretty safe (although we wish well to our challenger in the 2nd district, Nancy Boyda).
The candidates for state school board have been vetted by the bipartisan pro-science group Kansas Alliance for Education. Read about their endorsements on their website:
http://www.ksalliance.org/...
Right now, the most urgent fund-raising need is to support the lone pro-science incumbent, Democrat Janet Waugh, against her "stealth" creationist challenger in the primary. Here's her website:
http://janetwaugh.com
I'll back up my interest in this race with a challenge to get the wallets out of your pockets. For every $10 pledged in this thread, I'll add $5 of my own, up to $50. I wish I could give more. But let's get something started here.
The candidate doesn't have an online donation loop set up. But I contacted her, and this is what she said:
Thanks so much for your support.
I'm sorry I don't have access to on line donations.
Please make the check payable to
Janet Waugh Committee,
916 So. 57th Terr.,
Kansas City, Kansas 66106.
We can work on the other Kansas races between now and November. This is the one we need to move on now, because there's a wingnut in our own primary trying to take out one of the pro-science incumbents. Please find your checkbook. Small donations are fine.
Who's in?