The Kansas Board of Education is likely to vote in September to replace the state's newly updated science-teaching standards with a revised version that plays down evolution and rejects the idea that science is a search for "natural" explanations only. The change would open the doors of biology classrooms to supernatural explanations of human life and origins, including the increasingly popular concept of "intelligent design" - the idea that life is so complex it could only have been created by an intelligent being. School boards and lawmakers in nearly half the states, including Georgia, Pennsylvania and New York, are examining similar proposals. Most scientists say intelligent design is just a new, more acceptable name for biblical creationism. But intelligent-design supporters argue that they only want an equal hearing for alternate theories of life's origins and a chance for students to examine what they say are serious gaps in evolutionary science.

Marcia Clemmitt is a veteran social-policy reporter who joined CQ Researcher after serving as editor in chief of Medicine and Health, a Washington-based industry newsletter, and staff writer for The Scientist. She has also been a high school math and physics teacher. She holds a bachelor's degree in arts and sciences from St. Johns College, Annapolis, and a masters degree in English from Georgetown University.