[Rick TYler]

So, what would you do? Let's say you lived in the state of Madison. Madison is a pretty normal state -- about 2/3 of people live in cities and the rest in rural areas, and the state is mid-pack in income, education level, taxes, voting, everything. Perfectly average. The state has just set aside $250,000 to support youth robotics in your state, but the department of education hasn't decided how to allocate the money yet. There are 300 public high schools in the state, and there are 50 legislative districts. The state legislature thinks very highly of FIRST, and FIRST volunteers were the ones who started the ball rolling.

Assuming that all $250,000 will be spent on programs in public high schools, how would you spend the money?

(This is loosely based on a true story, but PLEASE if you know the true story, help me cover up the facts for a few days so that the discussion can go on untainted by what really happened. Or is happening. In a week or so we can tell the true story, OK?)