Last year, the Olathe Schools managed to save $12 million by encouraging teachers
and staff to retire and by not filling positions. But there aren't many easy moves left.
The District will not be getting $5.4 million of the Johnson County Sales Tax and the
state of Kansas has ordered historic reductions in funding for schools - back to 2004
levels. So the problem is how to provide for 15% more students with 15% less money.
Mathematicians rarely benefit from involvement in politics: Marie Jean Antoine
Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet, among the best minds of his day, either died
or was killed in prison during the French Revolution. We are reasonably certain had
Augustin Louis Cauchy been older he would have been executed. As it was, he went
through years where he was not paid due to his politics. Notwithstanding, we are
obliged to comment briefly on Kansas politics:
Senator Samuel Brownback has announced that he will not seek re-election to the Senate in 2010 and
has filed papers to run for Governor. That is great, and we wish the Senator well. However, several
Congressmen will be running to replace Senator Brownback. So far, Congressman Jerry Moran of the
First District and Congressman Todd Tiahrt of the Fourth District Kansas are in the 2010 Senate race.
Congressman Dennis Moore of the Third District will NOT be running for re-election. There are at least
ten Republicans (and zero Democrats) competing for his seat. As far as we are aware, Congresswoman
Lynn Jenkins of the Second District will be running for re-election. If she is successful, she would be
the only point of continuity. We are somewhat concerned that Kansas will be losing a fair amount of
legislative seniority. All that volatility also implies that most or all of the Representatives might be
freer to act than they might normally be as they need not directly live with the consequences of their
legislation. Update:
Sam Brownback was the 46th governor of Kansas (2011–2018) and was the
first Catholic to serve in the role of the United States Ambassador at
Large for International Religious Freedom (from 2018 to 2021).