Topeka ? As the Legislature passed its first major deadline of the session, debates over school finance seemed less about policy than political gamesmanship.

Majority Republicans wanted to stick Gov. Kathleen Sebelius with a loss, and the governor’s fellow Democrats sought to protect her.

But while the Senate defeated Sebelius’ plan to add $304 million to school funding through higher taxes, the governor was able to maneuver the House’s GOP leaders into promising a debate on education finance. Previously, they had been reluctant to see any major changes considered this year.

Events that unfolded Thursday indicate Sebelius is trying to build her own coalition of legislators willing to provide more money for schools.

“I’m eager for dialogue. I’ve been eager for months,” Sebelius said Friday. “I’m happy to work with any legislator who wants to talk about ideas.”

She added, “It is important that we have people coming forward with alternatives if they don’t like what’s been presented.”

Republicans have begun work on an alternative, which is not expected to involve a significant tax increase.

The Capitol gamesmanship began after Shawnee County District Judge Terry Bullock issued a preliminary order Dec. 2 finding the state’s school finance formula unconstitutional.

Bullock agreed with the plaintiffs — parents and administrators from Dodge City and Salina — that the funding formula adopted in 1992 yields inadequate aid that is distributed unfairly. He gave the state until July 1 to fix the problems.

Sebelius was already building her $304 million package. But Republicans greeted the court decision with defiance, saying they wouldn’t bow to Bullock before the Kansas Supreme Court had the final say.

“I think that was a natural reaction at the outset,” said Senate President Dave Kerr, R-Hutchinson.

By Tuesday, legislators had passed and sent Sebelius a bill intended to get the case quickly before the Supreme Court. Sebelius signed it Friday but said once again that court proceedings were no substitute for meaningful legislative action.

The appeal is a gamble for legislators. Many hope the Kansas Supreme Court will reverse Bullock — or at least order a less expensive remedy than the $1 billion by which Bullock concluded that schools are underfunded.

GOP leaders began the 2004 session predicting that no tax increase would pass and saying the Legislature should wait for a Supreme Court ruling to take significant changes in the school finance formula.

And indeed, no bills on the finance formula had been passed by Friday’s so-called “turnaround” deadline, when most bills must clear their originating chambers.

But Thursday’s developments indicated a turnaround of sorts in the thinking of at least some legislators.

In the Senate, for example, the 14 votes in favor of Sebelius’ tax plan included five cast by Republicans.

Thursday evening, 52 House members were willing to keep a school finance debate alive after Rep. Sue Storm, D-Overland Park, surprised Republicans by offering a scaled-down version of the governor’s plan along with a measure to increase local property taxes.

Sebelius got on the phone, calling House members at their desks to smoke out their willingness to consider a package. And the mood of the chamber changed.

Republican leaders sensed that Storm’s amendment could pass, then took the unusual step of offering a motion to end debate and adjourn for the day. Not all Republicans wanted to cut off debate.

“At the end of the day, compromise will have to be reached on education funding,” said Rep. Ed O’Malley, R-Roeland Park.

House Speaker Doug Mays, angry after realizing what was happening, said the House would discuss school finance within two weeks. He had been reluctant to commit to a debate.

On Friday, he insisted that he didn’t feel “bullied” by the governor.

“That’s just part of the process,” said Mays, R-Topeka.