There is no more important duty of state government than to educate its young people. That’s Job One, and it should be Issue One in the current campaigns of those seeking seats in the Kansas Legislature.

As much as some candidates would like us to believe that deciding whether we should constitutionally ban gay marriage is the most pressing matter now facing the state, there is nothing more important to the future of Kansas than to maintain the high quality of its public schools and universities.

A series of stories in the Journal-World last week helped define the issues facing K-12 education. Although many costs, especially health insurance costs, have continued to rise, per-pupil funding from the state has been steady for three years. To call this a “hold-harmless” budget move is absurd. Costs are rising, cuts must be made.

Yet, a group of state legislators is determined not to approve any new taxes to help fund the schools. Among their favorite arguments is the vague contention that there is a lot of “fat” in school budgets, especially in the area of administrative costs. None of these legislators can identify specific areas for cuts, but they are sure they are there.

In stops in several western Kansas locations last week, a J-W reporter talked to people on the front lines, school superintendents in some of the state’s smaller school districts. Even though such a move would directly effect their own schools, many superintendents saw the need to consolidate districts. Such a move might produce reductions in administrative costs, but many legislators consider the issue of consolidation too hot to handle.

Ironically, many of the legislators who oppose increased school funding represent districts that are suffering because of the cuts they have to make. It’s not just a matter of eliminating sports or reducing activities. What does it mean for the quality of education students are receiving when a superintendent says he intentionally is trying to hire less-experienced teachers because “they don’t cost as much”?

Observers may criticize Shawnee County District Judge Terry Bullock for being heavy-handed with his ruling that the state’s current school finance formula is unconstitutional, but someone has to have the courage to attack this issue. Even as they see schools suffering and even closing in their districts, legislators seem unwilling to make the difficult choices involved to improve the situation.

A 1999 study commissioned by the Legislature outlined a plan to merge some school districts to reduce the state’s total from 304 districts to 255. Last year, a coalition of school superintendents introduced a plan to convert the remaining 302 districts into 40 regional education districts. Neither idea went anywhere in the Legislature.

Lawmakers, no doubt, were afraid to proceed on a plan that would result in consolidation and perhaps school closures in their districts. But neither were they willing to produce the tax support needed to preserve the quality of all the schools they wanted to keep open.

Some try to make excuses for their inaction. It’s true that Kansas schools stack up well with those across the nation. It’s true that Kansas students continue to score above the national averages on standardized tests. But it’s also true that we can do better.

No matter what issues legislative candidates want to talk about this fall, voters should insist they talk about how they would approach the state’s No. 1 job: educating its children.