In Topeka, a newly elected Kansas Board of Education took a step toward restoring evolution to state science curricula, more than a year after causing an uproar over how biology and faith should be taught in the classroom. After more than two hours of debate yesterday, the board decided it would give final approval to the new standards at its February 13 meeting. The new science standards would replace ones adopted in August of ’99 that omitted references to many evolutionary concepts. Kansas is one of several states, including Arizona, Alabama, Illinois, New Mexico, Texas and Nebraska, where school boards have attempted to take evolution out of state science standards or de-emphasize evolutionary concepts.