COLBY, Kan. - A few days ago, Brad asked a question in his comment on Marty Keenan's post, addressing taxes and education. "So while I like the idea of people pressing their legislatures for more funding, how can one be sure the tax increase will be targeted to the programs we want?"
Well, Brad, in a perfect world you wouldn't need to worry about it, would you? However, we don't live in a perfect world. - too many of us imperfect human beingsĀ -
When the majority of us 'adults' have progressed beyond our infantile stage, when we were aware of only our immediate needs - dry diapers - warm milk - cozy covers - etc. - and learn that we can't always be the center of attention and that by screaming louder, we can't get what we want - then maybe we can expect society to understand equity and fair treatment for everyone.


YOCEMENTO, Kan. - A storm was brewing in the north, but there was nothing but peace and good cheer around our kitchen table last Thursday evening. My family and I had the privilege of hosting Nola Ochs and her great-granddaughter Janae Ochs for dinner.
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Here in Lawrence, we just came through a dramatic and upsetting round of school funding cuts that effectively divided our community. There were threats of some--or several--of our grade schools being closed and things got ugly as parents turned on each other. When parents of children in threatened schools rallied, some parents of children whose schools were not on the chopping block were concerned that their schools would lose teachers, librarians, nurses, paras, etc. in order to save smaller, older grade schools. (What they didn't seem to take into consideration was that class sizes were going to go up regardless, because all those kids from closed schools were going to have to flood the remaining schools.)
