Lit­tle exits Kansas com­mis­sion race:

Sharol Lit­tle, one of the top two can­di­dates for the post of Kansas edu­ca­tion com­mis­sion­er, on Wednes­day with­drew her name from consideration.

Lit­tle, retir­ing super­in­ten­dent of the Man­hat­tan-Ogden School Dis­trict, said she had called Steve Abrams, the chair­man of the Kansas Board of Edu­ca­tion, and told him her decision.

Abrams told her that the board had just met for an hour in exec­u­tive ses­sion but had made no deci­sion on a can­di­date. She said she told him that she had decid­ed to accept a job in Colorado.

“I told him I had put them off three times and I wasn’t going to wait any longer,” Lit­tle said.

Lit­tle, 57, said she expect­ed to begin work as a school super­in­ten­dent in Col­orado on Aug. 1. She declined to iden­ti­fy the district.

My sources tell me that many mod­er­ate mem­bers were con­cerned about the ties between Dr. Lit­tle and the West­view Com­mu­ni­ty Church, and a source close to the process informs me that Ken Willard was not ready to vote, that is, was unwill­ing to endorse either can­di­date. I’m hop­ing to get con­fir­ma­tion on that, so treat it as a rumor.