“As we struggle with a providing equity and adequacy in a Kansas school funding formula we would do well to get my mom involved. Equity doesn’t look the same in every district. Equity doesn’t forget districts with special needs, but neither does it forget districts without them.

“Kansans recognize that districts have different needs. Kansans know that we have to think about how to provide the best education to all of our children. My mom instilled in her family the understanding that helping my brother and sister was different from helping me, but it was just what we all needed. My brother and sister never did a happy dance because ‘mom likes us better.’

“Kansans are family. School leaders, board members and superintendents through the years have helped the current generation understand that we can fight and bicker about who gets more, or we can fight to make sure all students get what they need.”