Collecting spare change may not be the best way to finance public schools, but the effort should send a message to state lawmakers.

It may not set a good precedent, but you have to applaud the sentiment behind the fund-raisers organized to benefit the Shawnee Mission school district in suburban Kansas City.

According to an Associated Press story published in Monday’s Journal-World, students at Belinder Elementary School brought in loose change and donated proceeds from lemonade stands to help pay the salaries of a nurse, counselor and foreign language teacher. The positions were due to be cut by the district, which, like most Kansas school districts, is struggling to deal with state funding cutbacks.

Parents and community members added to the students’ efforts, raising a total of $236,000 to help preserve teaching positions in the district. It’s not enough to erase the $6 million deficit that faces the district, but it’s not a drop in the bucket.

Perhaps even more important than the dollar amount, however, is the philosophical statement made by district patrons. They are saying that schools are a vital part of their community that they are willing to support with donations as well as tax dollars. It’s quite a show of support.

The same sentiment was expressed on a larger scale by Johnson County residents who approved a sales tax increase to benefit schools. The county will levy the tax and forward it to the school district. If the measure survives a court challenge, other communities are likely to consider similar measures.

There are valid criticisms of these approaches to financing public schools. Seeking donations, of course, is a far more fruitful exercise in an affluent Kansas City suburb than it would be in a rural western Kansas community that has been hard hit by the declining agriculture economy. A sales tax in Johnson County spreads the burden of paying for school expenses by transferring much of that responsibility to the many shoppers who come from outside the county.

The basic argument against such funding schemes is that they feed inequities among school districts. Schools in affluent areas of the state improve while those in the poorer areas suffer. The purpose of the state’s existing school finance formula is to equalize educational opportunities across the state. It’s a good goal, but it only works if the state levies adequate taxes to support schools and then distributes that revenue in a way that is fair and beneficial statewide. It’s a tall order that the state currently is failing to fill.

Local school district patrons having bake sales to support their schools may not be the answer for improving the financial picture for schools statewide, but you have to admire their commitment and their effort. They show how much Kansans value their public schools and the job they do for our children. Hopefully, that sentiment and support won’t be overlooked by the Kansas Legislature.