Maybe that’s the question Kansans should ponder as they reflect on President Bush’s State of the Union address.

In his speech to Congress Tuesday night, President Bush emphasized several major themes. Foremost among them were the conduct of the war against international terrorists and the need for action to improve the nation’s sagging economy.

Of the war, the president said, “Our war on terror is well begun, but it is only begun. This campaign may not be finished on our watch, yet it must be and it will be waged on our watch. History has called America and our allies to fight, and it is both our responsibility and our privilege to fight freedom’s fight.”

And of the economy and his budget proposal, Bush said: “The final great priority of my budget is economic security for the American people. We must act at home with the same purpose and resolve we have shown overseas. We will prevail in the war, and we will defeat this recession.”

But it’s the background music accompanying the president’s message that may hold the key to the success of his proposals, and if the tune is not picked up in Kansas, then many in Lawrence and elsewhere in the state stand to be disappointed.

“We must act first and foremost not as Republicans, not as Democrats, but as Americans,” Bush said, shortly thereafter launching into comments about the economy.

“Good jobs begin with good schools,” he said, adding that bipartisan cooperation in the Congress led to last session’s “historic education reform.” He championed that cooperation: “Our work on this bill shows what is possible if we set aside posturing and focus on results.

“There is more to do,” the president said. “We need to prepare our children to read and succeed in school with improved Head Start and early childhood development programs. We must upgrade our teacher colleges and teacher training and launch a major recruiting drive with a great goal for America, a quality teacher in every classroom.”

Meanwhile, in the Kansas Legislature, the “great goal” seems to be to chop funds from education at every level. The goal seems to be to settle for mediocre, overworked teachers in overcrowded classrooms, while posturing about taxes rather than seeking enlightened solutions through bipartisan leadership. Lawrence and other school districts agonize over the probability of multimillion-dollar budget cuts; some Kansas districts already fail to provide health insurance for teachers and offer them ridiculously low salaries situations that will be exacerbated by the actions being indicated this year under the dome in Topeka. And Kansas University and other so-called state universities apparently will look to aggressive tuition increases to fund operations, while the Legislature whittles.

Were they listening in Topeka? Cooperation. Education. Jobs. Economic recovery.