¢ Bruce Baker, a Kansas University professor of education, has entered the debate in Missouri over whether the state’s system of distributing money to public schools is fair, according to this story posted by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Baker is testifying on behalf of school districts who say districts with a higher percentage of black students don’t get enough money._ “You are telling this court that the Legislature of the state of Missouri should treat blacks differently than everybody else,” Joshua Schindler said during cross-examination. Baker responded that it costs more to provide an adequate education to black students, but he said he has not found a race-neutral alternative that fully captures the differences in cost.__Overall, Baker found that Missouri should have spent about $6,163 per student on average in 2005. Missouri lawmakers rewrote the school funding system that year, setting a basic spending target per student close to that, at $6,117. But the new formula isn’t expected to be fully phased in until the 2012-2013 school year._¢ Lawrence native and up-and-coming country singer Sarah Buxton has been named to sing at this year’s Nebraskaland Days Summer Jams Concert in June, according to the North Platte Telegraph. She recently signed as a “new priority artist” for Lyric Street Records.¢ Jerome Armstrong, attending the Democratic National Committee winter meeting, blogs about being interviewed by Lawrence.com at My Direct Democracy._I was interviewed by Lawrence.com yesterday (am attending a Blogger confo there at the Dole Inst. mind-month) and they asked about Sebelius as a VP candidate. I have no idea what the other candidates are thinking, but there were many on board in Warner’s camp that envisioned a Warner-Sebelius ticket (what if they had announced the ticket before IA?) as unbeatable._